transgender

HHS Ceases Medicaid, CHIP Funding for Sex-Rejecting Procedures for Kids

The federal government will no longer pay for children to receive sex-rejecting procedures through Medicaid and the Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP), the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) announced Tuesday.

The final rule, which HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. foreshadowed in December, will take effect on October 13. Federal Medicaid and CHIP won’t cover pediatric sex-rejecting surgeries for or new prescriptions for opposite-sex hormones and puberty blocking drugs.

Minors with existing prescriptions for wrong-sex hormones and puberty blockers on October 13 will receive decreasing Medicaid and CHIP coverage for six months. Federal payments for these treatments will reportedly end in May 2027.

“Children deserve our protection, not experimental interventions that pose serious risks and convey no proven benefits,” Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) Administrator Dr. Mehmet Oz wrote in a press release.

“By cutting off federal funds for these sex-rejecting procedures, we’re following the science, saving taxpayer dollars, and, most importantly, protecting children from potentially irreversible harm so they can truly flourish.”

Secretary Kennedy reiterated, “These interventions carry serious risks and can cause irreversible harm.”

He continued:

The federal government will no longer use Medicaid and CHIP dollars to fund procedures that fail to meet the evidentiary standard our children deserve.

Halting Medicaid and CHIP coverage for pediatric “transgender” medical interventions protects children from mutilating medical procedures; prevents federal tax dollars from funding child experimentation; and delegitimizes dangerous pseudoscience — a win, win, win.

It’s a hard-fought victory.

President Trump took the first step toward defunding pediatric, sex-rejecting procedures on January 28, 2025, via his executive order “Protecting Children From Chemical and Surgical Mutilation.”

It declared:

It is the policy of the United States that it will not fund, sponsor, promote assist or support the so-called “transition” of a child from one sex to another, and it will rigorously enforce all laws that prohibit or limit these destructive and life-altering procedures.

The order specifically directed Secretary Kennedy to “take all appropriate actions to end the chemical and surgical mutilation of children.” It also commissioned HHS’ evidentiary review of “gender-affirming” surgeries, opposite-sex hormones and puberty blockers for children.

HHS released Treatment for Pediatric Gender Dysphoria: Review of Evidence and Best Practices in May 2025. The 409-page review found:

A growing body of evidence pointing to significant risks [of medical interventions such as puberty blockers, opposite-sex hormones and surgeries] — including irreversible harms such as infertility — while finding very weak evidence of benefit.

On December 18, 2025, shortly after HHS finalized the peer-reviewed Treatment for Pediatric Gender Dysphoria, the secretary signed what became known as the Kennedy Declaration. It reads, in part:

Sex-rejecting procedures are neither safe nor effective treatment for children with gender dysphoria.

“This declaration is a clear directive to providers to follow the science and the overwhelming body of evidence that these procedures hurt, not help children,” Kennedy said at a press conference.

The declaration accompanied a list of “six decisive actions” HHS planned to take to protect children from these interventions. One was proposing a new rule “to prohibit federal Medicaid funding for sex-rejecting procedures on children under age 18.”

HHS and CMS fulfilled that action this week.

That’s not to say implementing the final rule will be easy. In December 2025, 18 states sued to stop the enforcement of the Kennedy Declaration and its “illegal attempt to supersede the relevant standards of care for transgender health care in Plaintiff states.”

The case, Oregon v. Kennedy, is still playing in court. New suits will likely attempt to force Medicaid and CHIP to continue paying for “gender-affirming” care for minors.

Kennedy wouldn’t be surprised. In December, when a reporter asked him about his opponents tying up HHS initiatives in court, Kennedy responded, “I think that’s going to happen,” joking, “The number of lawsuits with my name on it right now is almost beyond counting.”

But the secretary wasn’t intimidated.

“We know what we’re doing is legal. And if people sue us, they’re welcome to, but we’re going to win the lawsuits.”

The Daily Citizen thanks HHS for continuing to put children first after more than a year and a half of hard fighting to protect minors from damaging gender ideology.

Additional Articles and Resources

HHS Will Block Hospitals From Performing Sex-Rejecting, Mutilating Procedures on Children

18 States Sue HHS for Protecting Children From Sex-Rejecting Procedures

HHS Finalizes Report Finding Sex-Rejecting Procedures Harm Minors

HHS Releases Report on harms of ‘Transgender’ Medical interventions for Minors

President Trump Signs Order Protecting Children From Transgender Medical Interventions

Enes Kanter Freedom Declares for WNBA Draft Amid ‘Trans’ Controversy

Enes Kanter Freedom, an NBA star, anti-communism advocate and Nobel Peace Prize nominee, is calling the WNBA’s bluff by declaring for the league’s 2027 draft.

“Well, it’s officially official. I just declared for the 2027 WNBA draft in April,” Freedom said in a social media video. “Join me in this journey.”

“If simply declaring who you are is all that’s required, then I meet every single requirement necessary to compete in the WNBA,” Freedom said days earlier.

“I’m simply asking that the current rules be applied equally to everyone – the rules that represent the very values many WNBA players and coaches have publicly advocated for. … I look forward to the WNBA honoring its stated principles.”

What are those “stated principles?” Following Freedom’s declaration, the Women’s National Basketball Players Association released a statement on social media re-emphasizing “equity, diversity, and inclusion” as “values that unite this Union and allow it to protect women’s sports while creating transformational change.”

“Hate, abuse, and demonization of any person or group of people, including transgender people, only fuel fear, division, and harm. We will continue to have hard conversations. But we will not be used as political pawns,” the association claimed.

The WNBA’s official policy reserves the league for women: “Only players who are women are eligible to play in the WNBA.”

However, the policy does not define “women.” And the players association strongly supports men participating in girls and women’s sports.

“The WNBPA will fight for trans youth across the country,” the association asserts. “Banning trans kids from sports ostracizes them from a fundamental part of growing up and a lifeline to feel welcome and a part of their community.”

The WNBPA’s open invitation for male inclusion meant it was just a matter of time before a talented male athlete like Enes Freedom called its bluff. Will the association stand behind its “transgender” activism when its lofty language meets reality? Time will tell.

Enes Freedom was raised in Turkey and moved to the United States as teenager. He spoke out against President Erdogan’s human rights abuses in his home country. In response, the Turkish government “canceled his passport, placed his name on an Interpol list, banned communication with his family, imprisoned and tortured his father, [and] placed a $500,000 bounty on his head.”

The Utah Jazz selected the 34-year-old as the third overall pick in the 2011 NBA draft. He went on to play for the Thunder, Blazers and Celtics, and used his famous “Freedom Shoes” in NBA games to speak out about the Chinese Communist Party’s human rights abuses.

HOUSTON, TEXAS – OCTOBER 24: Enes Kanter #13 of the Boston Celtics sneakers are seen at Toyota Center on October 24, 2021 in Houston, Texas. (Photo by Carmen Mandato/Getty Images)

After wearing “Anti-CCP” shoes in 2021, every Boston Celtics game was immediately banned by China and Turkey. The Celtics traded him to the Houston Rockets in February 2022, which then released him just three minutes later, a decision which Freedom believes was made to silence him and cost him around $50 million.

Freedom, who became a U.S. citizen in 2022, is now using his freedom to advocate for the right of women to compete freely, fairly and safely in athletics. And he’s not alone.

Royce White, a former NBA player, has also declared for the WNBA draft, saying the league is “an example of a herald of us losing a lot of things in this country.”

Sophie Cunningham, who plays guard for the Indiana Fever, recently ignited a firestorm by speaking out against men playing in women’s sports.

“I got a lot of negative feedback about me hating trans,” the star player said. “And I’m like, ‘I never once said that.’ I think that I am here to extend love. But I also think with that love is truth, being honest. And I want to protect young girls in a locker room, or young girls in sport who shouldn’t have to go against biological men.”

Cunningham’s bold remark stands in stark contrast to Cheryl Reeve’s, head coach of the Lynx, outspoken advocacy for transgender-identified players.

When the Lynx faced off against the Fever, Reeve wore a “Trans Kids Belong” shirt.

“We need to protect trans kids,” Reeve said. “To me, it’s a human rights issue. Every kid has a right to sports.”

Outkick founder Clay Travis devised a creative proposal to expose the WNBA’s transgender activism: A head-to-head basketball game between the WNBA’s Las Vegas Aces and a boy’s high school state team.

“If the Aces beat my team, I will give them $10 million,” Travis said. The Las Vegas Aces and WNBA have not accepted, or even acknowledged, Travis’ offer.

In recent days, the pressure being placed on the WNBA by Freedom, White, Cunningham and Travis may have started to break through.

WNBA Commissioner Cathy Engelbert sent a memo to teams addressing the controversy.

“I know many of you have received questions in recent weeks regarding transgender athlete participation in women’s basketball, and I expect this topic will continue to receive significant attention,” Engelbert wrote.

A task force of team presidents and general managers will discuss the topic at a meeting this week, she acknowledged.

For a league dedicated to female participation – it is the Women’s National Basketball Association after all – it’s quite silly to think there’s anything to “discuss.”

Nevertheless, the WNBA must recognize what a woman is – and fast. Otherwise, its players may be competing against the 6’ 10” Enes Freedom and the 6’ 8” Royce White next season.

Related articles and resources:

The Impending Extinction of Women’s Sports – Jennifer Sey | ReFOCUS

Clay Travis Calls the WNBA’s Bluff With $10 Million Challenge

WNBA’s Sophie Cunningham Stands Firm in Face of Criticism

The WNBA’s Culture War Has Arrived

Photo from Getty Images.

Clay Travis Calls the WNBA’s Bluff With $10 Million Challenge

Outkick founder Clay Travis is calling the WNBA’s bluff.

In response to the latest kerfuffle within the professional women’s basketball league over Sophie Cunningham’s defense of women’s sports, Travis, who’s also a sports journalist and co-host of “The Clay Travis & Buck Sexton Show,” tweeted out a provocative offer this past Tuesday:

“Important announcement: I am upping my offer, $10 million dollars for a head-to-head basketball game between the defending WNBA champion Las Vegas Aces and a boy’s high school state title team of my choice,” he wrote. “If the Aces beat my team, I will give them $10 million.”

The Indiana Fever’s Sophie Cunningham has ignited a firestorm of criticism from leftists for suggesting women’s sports should be reserved for women.

Cunningham’s position is straightforward common-sense that’s been widely accepted forever. It’s only been in recent years with the introduction of the “trans” movement that anyone would have objected to such a position. Sadly, even Cunningham’s coach has been infected by the inanity. Asked recently whether sexually confused men should be permitted to play in the league, the Fever’s Stephanie White refused to answer. 

“I don’t know that I would say I’m educated enough from a scientific standpoint,” the coach told the press. “I don’t ever believe that exclusion is the answer. I just don’t. I do think that when we think about various levels of sport, various governing bodies of sport, and things that go into that, like I said, I’m not educated enough at the different levels. I know growing up I played with the boys all the time.”

So Coach White is educated enough to coach a women’s basketball team, but not informed enough to recognize the fundamental and foundational physiological differences between male and female athletes?

It’s been long established that males have between 30% and 40% more upper-body muscle mass and between 20% and 30% more lower-body muscle mass than females. Males generally have larger skeletons, longer limbs, broader shoulders, larger hands and feet, and higher bone density. They also have larger hearts and greater lung capacity. As a result, men run, on average, 8% to 12% faster than women.

Clay Travis is aware of these significant differences, which is why he’s willing to put his money where his mouth is and challenge the absurd premise underlying the “trans” debate, specifically that men and women are interchangeable.

Sophie Cunningham’s famous teammate, Caitlin Clark, has deliberately sidestepped the controversy, a decision that has disappointed many of her fans. Asked about the raging debate this past weekend, Clark deferred.

“I think it’s for leagues and governing bodies to work with their athletes to find solutions,” she told reporters. “Our focus is on basketball. That’s what we talk about and how we can get wins and obviously we didn’t do that tonight. So we need to find an area to improve in that way.”

Cheryl Reeve, head coach of the WNBA’s Minnesota Lynx, tackled the issue in the exact opposite manner. During a recent game against Cunningham’s and Clark’s Fever, she wore a t-shirt emblazoned with the words, “Trans Kids Belong.” She told reporters, “We need to protect trans kids.”

Never mind that there’s no such thing as a “trans” kid – there are boys and girls, and yes, they should be protected, especially girls from boys who claim to be girls.

As of this writing, the Las Vegas Aces haven’t yet responded to Clay Travis’ offer, nor are they expected to take him up on the $10 million challenge. Critics may not appreciate the theater of such an offer, but the Outkick founder is simply using the tactic to make an irrefutable point: the physiological differences between male and female athletes are real and significant. 

In the end, the “trans” delusion is theater itself, and a very bad show where the curtain is falling and whose run is hopefully and prayerfully drawing to a close.

Make-Believe Women Are the Ultimate Male Chauvinists

It has been more than four years since Riley Gaines, then a swimmer at the University of Kentucky, publicly spoke out against University of Pennsylvania swimmer Will “Lia” Thomas competing in women’s sports.

Thomas, who claims to be female, would go on to be declared an NCAA Division I Champion. He won three individual Ivy League titles, along with a relay title and set numerous school records. 

It should be noted that based on Thomas’ times, the Penn swimmer wouldn’t have won anything had he been swimming against men.

Last summer, in response to the Trump administration’s directives to protect women athletes, the University of Pennsylvania revised the school’s swimming records by removing Thomas’ name from the top slots and recognizing the legitimate female winners. Letters of regret were sent to those who had been bumped from the lists.

“While Penn’s policies during the 2021-2022 swim season were in accordance with NCAA eligibility rules at the time, we acknowledge that some student-athletes were disadvantaged by these rules,” Penn President J. Larry Jameson stated. “We recognize this and will apologize to those who experienced a competitive disadvantage or experienced anxiety because of the policies in effect at the time.”

We’ve come a long way since the height of the “trans” delusion, when few people had the guts to speak out against the unfairness and insanity of it all. 

Testifying before Congress in 2023, Gaines declared:

Let me be perfectly clear: a school that knowingly allows a male athlete to take a spot on a women’s team, or allows a male athlete to take the field in a woman’s game, is denying a female student an athletic opportunity. That is sex discrimination, and it violates Title IX—regardless of what new regulations might say.

The testimony of the 12-time NCAA All-American swimmer and 5-time SEC champion helped turn the tide. Her courage stiffened the spines of other athletes, many of whom also began to speak out.

The NCAA no longer allows men to compete against women, but much like the abortion battle, the issue is now at a state level. While 27 states ban men from competing against women, 23 states do not. This past June, in a unanimous ruling, the United States Supreme Court held that Title IX does not require states to include “transgender” athletes in girls and women’s sports. In a 6-3 decision, the High Court ruled that bans on “trans” athletes do not violate the Equal Protection Clause of the United States Constitution. 

As the state “trans” debates now drag on, this next season of the controversy demands that Christians, in particular, must possess a clear-headed understanding and unwavering convictions concerning the issue and what’s at stake.

Scripture makes absolutely clear that God created humanity with a binary distinction between male and female. That’s it. That’s all. And because God is perfect, He doesn’t make mistakes. You can tragically and devastatingly mutilate a body, take hormones and chemicals, but you cannot change your biological sex. A man cannot become a woman, and a woman cannot become a man.

Christians with these commonsense convictions have faced great pressure and harassment. They’ve been called bullies, bigots, intolerant, and “transphobic.”  Ironically, some have even been called sexist, a claim that belies reality. That’s because any male who pretends to be a woman and competes against women is actually thechauvinist – and the ultimate one, at that.

Merriam-Webster defines “chauvinism” as “an attitude of superiority toward members of the opposite sex.” And that’s precisely what these men are doing. By carrying their biological male physical advantages into women’s sports, they’re looking to dominate instead of fairly competing against them. They’re looking to erase biological sex altogether and redefine or recast it in terms of one’s personal choice or “identity.”

The ongoing campaign to protect women’s sports is going well, but its ultimate success at the state level will demand ongoing boldness – and bluntness. Please join us in praying for the protection of the vulnerable and for the courage and strength of those in the battle.

Christian Parents Allegedly Caused ‘Mental Injury’ by Rejecting ‘Transgender’ Identity

The ongoing war on reality has claimed many victims in recent years, including a family who recently moved from Oregon, where state officials removed a sexually confused minor from the home because the mother and father refused to affirm a lie.

David and Nicole Calaway relayed the tragic story to our friends at the Daily Signal. Back in July 2024, Oregon Department of Human Services (ODHS) claimed the Calaways were causing “mental injury” to their then-15-year-old daughter, K.A.

How so?

It seems that David and Nicole, who are Christians, did what responsible mothers and fathers do when a child, who is developing their own worldview, expresses thoughts or convictions that are clearly in theological error.

Part of the Calaways’ “conversation” with K.A. included them showing her a video that explained the “trans” delusion. While activists would disagree, there is no such thing as a “transgender” person. There are two sexes – male and female. That’s a biological fact.

Nicole Calaway has told reporters the videos included testimonials of “detransitioners” – the heartbreaking, real-life examples of once sexually confused individuals who are now attempting to reverse the surgeries and procedures, which often leave their bodies mutilated and marred. Nicole said she shared the stories “because I wanted her to make an informed decision. I did not want her to ruin her body. I still do not want her to ruin her body.”

The Calaways have an older daughter who is also sexually confused and had moved out of the family home prior to K.A.’s removal.

Apparently, ODHS officials were just as confused and misled as K.A. when a counselor informed them that the mother and father had been sharing this biological truth with their daughter, prompting the agency to step in.

In a letter to the parents, ODHS caseworker Rachel Woods wrote: “Your adverse reactions to [K.A.] expressing their gender identity have caused serious harm to [K.A.’s] psychological functioning.”

The phrase “psychological functioning” is an umbrella term that refers to how a person thinks, feels and behaves. Ironically, Mr. and Mrs. Calaway’s commitment to sharing God’s truth is the very best way to ensure their daughter grows up to think clearly, reason critically and discern truth. Contrast their commonsense approach with ODHS’ insistence on enabling delusional thinking and it’s especially galling and outrageous.

David Calaway has asked the million-dollar question: “When did the truth become mental injury?”

“I was so distraught, it felt like I was gutted,” Nicole Calaway reflected. “Both my daughters were gone. I took myself to the hospital and admitted myself for a week because I couldn’t handle it.”

The Calaways have filed a lawsuit claiming their free speech and religious freedom under the First Amendment have been violated. In addition to seeking financial damages, they are asking to be removed from child abuse and sex offender registries. Their case is expected to be heard by a judge in September. 

Now living in Florida, it’s been two years since David and Nicole Calaway have seen K.A. While working to right the wrong done to them, the heartbroken couple is speaking out in the hope of helping others. “We just want to bring awareness out there to parents everywhere that this is happening,” they recently stated.

The “trans” delusion is real and devastating, impacting more and more people thanks to bureaucratic bullies and radical activists whom it appears have been given up “to a debased mind” (Romans 1:28). Please join us in praying for justice for those impacted and for truth to prevail.