Lawmakers probe how Connecticut Children’s Medical Center betrayed trans families by capitulating to Trump

Lawmakers in Connecticut want more information about a major pediatric hospital’s agreement to end gender-affirming care for trans youth.

The chairs of the state Senate and House Human Services committees are threatening to use subpoena powers to obtain Connecticut Children’s Medical Center’s agreement with the Trump administration to cease the services.

“CCMC signed a legally binding contract with the State of Connecticut in which they promised not to discriminate against any class of their patients. By submitting to political pressure from the Trump administration, they appear to be breaking our state laws,” said Sen. Matt Lesser, the Democratic chair of the Senate Human Services Committee.

Related: Connecticut hospitals sued after cutting off transgender youths’ access to care, despite state protections

“What’s also concerning is that they have not been forthcoming with the public or their own patients about what they’ve agreed to or why. CCMC is funded by Connecticut taxpayers, and our residents have a right to know what they are doing and what they have agreed to. We will compel them to be transparent if they will not be so voluntarily. Many families see their acquiescence as a betrayal by a trusted medical provider – and CCMC has a lot of explaining to do to win back their trust.”

The Justice Department in August said the hospital had agreed to stop providing “sex-rejecting procedures on minors,” pay a penalty**,** and set aside $500,000 to provide care for individuals who say they were harmed by gender-affirming care they previously received.

The decision has left trans families uncertain about the continuity of their care, the lawmakers said. They demanded that the hospital turn over its agreement with the administration and all related communications by Sept. 4. Failure to do so, they warned, “will warrant more robust action.”

Related: Connecticut Children’s Medical Center caves to Trump DOJ on gender-affirming care

“Connecticut has positioned itself as a safe state to receive care for transgender youth and adults,” said Rep. Jillian Gilchrest, who chairs the Human Services Committee.

“The actions taken by CCMC have betrayed Connecticut families, parents, doctors, and most importantly, our youth. These coercive tactics by the Trump administration are a shocking abuse of federal power, and we should be doing everything we can to protect essential medical care and push back, not capitulate to this Administration’s ideological warfare. Our request, so we can better understand CCMC’s agreement with the Trump Administration, is minor in light of how major the impact of this decision is.”