Advocates call on Penn State Health and UPMC to resume gender affirming care for minors

Two Pennsylvania health care providers changed their gender affirming care policies after President Donald Trump signed an anti-trans executive order. LGBTQ advocates are calling Penn State Health and UPMC to reverse their decision. 

Nearly 50 demonstrators gathered outside of the entrance to Penn State Health’s Hershey campus on Friday to raise awareness of the hospital system’s decision to end gender affirming care for trans people under the age of 19. 

Gender affirming care includes therapy, puberty blockers, hormone therapy, and support as someone is transitioning. In rare instances, it includes surgery for those experiencing gender dysphoria.  

“ We’re here today to protest Penn State Health and UMPC’s illegal pre-compliance with Donald Trump’s executive order denying  trans-affirming healthcare to youth and adults age 19 and under,” Corinne Goodwin, Chair of Eastern PA Transgender Equity Project, said in an interview. 

“ In the past, Penn State Health has provided a full suite of healthcare services to transgender people, youth, including adults, and now what they’ve done is for adults 18 years old, as well as for youth, they are no longer providing any form of medical treatment.”

“That would be hormone blockers or, gender affirming  hormonal care or potentially surgical care and they’ve just stopped providing that altogether now,” Goodwin added.

Penn State Health employs over 20,000 people and has 5 hospitals serving 15 counties across Central Pennsylvania, and it joined University of Pittsburgh Medical Center (UPMC) in banning gender affirming care for minors last month after President Donald Trump signed an executive order trying to ban the practice in January. 

Trump’s executive order threatens to withhold funding from hospitals, medical schools, and other institutions that provide gender affirming care to those under the age of 19. 

Friday’s demonstration at Penn State Health in Hershey was coordinated with other rallies on Penn State’s main campus in State College and outside of UPMC’s headquarters in Pittsburgh. 

The demonstrations were organized by the Pennsylvania Youth Congress and the ACLU of Pennsylvania, with support from the Eastern PA Trans Equity Project, CENTRE LGBT+, and TransYOUniting. 

A spokesperson with Penn State Health issued a statement explaining that the health care provider never offered gender reassignment surgeries for those under the age of 18.  

“Under our updated policy, Penn State Health does not perform gender-affirming surgeries or provide any type of gender-affirming medical or pharmacological services to individuals under age 19,” the statement read. 

The statement also said that Penn State Health is “committed to providing care for transgender and gender-diverse people in a supported and safe environment.”

“Our Internal Medicine team welcomes individuals aged 19 years and older who are seeking gender affirming primary or consultative care services. In addition, Penn State Health operates a Gender Care Clinic, providing psychosocial care to adolescents and young adults (ages 10-24),” it went on to say. 

The advocacy organizations are calling on UPMC and Penn State Health to reinstate gender affirming care for minors; establish an advisory committee that includes transgender youth, community leaders, and to not retaliate against LGBTQ people and continue funding for local programs.  

LGBTQ advocates are hoping that this awareness pressures Penn State Health and UPMC to reverse their decision to end gender affirming care for minors like Corewell Health in Michigan. 

“ Penn State Health and UPMC are relegating their duty to save lives and,” Jason Landau Goodman, Executive Director of the Pennsylvania Youth Congress, said in an interview. “We just learned of a young person who’s no longer alive, who was receiving care in Western Pennsylvania from UPMC, and it is heartbreaking.”

“ I don’t know if they fully understand the extent of what they’re deciding here at Penn State. They still have a chance to correct the situation. Corwell Health in Michigan, the largest healthcare system in Michigan, reversed their pause on gender affirming medical care for those under 19.”