The United States Department of Veteran Affairs (VA) is ending its policy of providing medical treatment for gender dysphoria following an executive order by President Donald Trump, according to a statement issued on Monday (17).
“Any economy that can achieve when interrupting gender -specific medical treatments will be redirected to help beneficiaries of the seriously injured VA – such as paralyzed and amputated veterans – to recover its independence,” the department said.
Also according to the commissioned, there are some exceptions, including veterans who are already receiving this kind of gender affirmation care from the VA.
“All qualified veterans-including transidentified veterans-will always be welcome at VA and will always receive the benefits and services they have gained under the law. But if veterans want to try to change sex, they can do this with their own money, ”said veteran’s secretary of subjects Doug Collins.
The VA stated that it offered care, including hormone therapy, voice training and prostheses for those with gender dysphoria. However, the agency said it “did not maintain consistent and reliable records” about how many veterans used these services or how much money they cost.
Trump signed the executive order, entitled “defending women from gender ideology extremism and restoring biological truth to the federal government” on January 20.
The Order states that it is United States politics to “recognize two sexes, masculine and female” and instruct agencies to remove all statements that say the opposite.
Democratic deputy Mark Takano, a graduate member of the House Veteran Affairs Committee, attacked the measure, saying that “this is not cost cut, it is cruelty.” He said in a statement to CNN that veterans “deserve access to medical care that their providers consider appropriate.”
“Secretary Doug Collins is unilaterally restricting medical care for transgender veterans, ignoring the clinical judgment of the VA providers who have prescribed this care and the experience of all major medical associations in the United States that support this care,” he said.
