Illinois' Rush health system scaling back gender-affirming care for minors

Lisa Schencker, Chicago Tribune on Jul 15, 2025

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CHICAGO — Rush University System for Health is the latest Illinois hospital system to scale back its gender-affirming care for minors, amid threats from the Trump administration against institutions that provide such care.

Rush has “paused” offering hormonal care to new patients under the age of 18, effective July 1, spokesperson Tobin Klinger confirmed Tuesday.

“This decision was made in collaboration with our clinical leaders,” Klinger said in an email, adding, “Rush continues to be a strong advocate for the LGBTQ+ community.”

Rush will continue to provide mental and behavioral health care and social services to gender care patients, regardless of age, he said, and it will continue “to provide the full range of gender care to adult patients based on medical need.”

Gender-affirming care can include a range of services such as counseling, medications to delay puberty, hormone therapy and/or surgery.

Rush does not perform gender-affirming surgeries on patients younger than 18, and has not done so since 2023, Klinger said. Rush will work to refer patients to other providers when they need services Rush doesn’t offer, he said. Block Club Chicago first reported the news about the change at Rush.

The shift follows news of similar actions by other Chicago area hospitals.

Lurie Children’s Hospital said in February that it had paused gender-affirming surgeries for patients younger than 19. That pause remains in effect “as we continue to assess the rapidly evolving environment,” said a Lurie spokesperson in a statement Tuesday. Lurie is “continuing to provide other care and treatment plans for the program’s patients,” according the statement.

Earlier this year, UI Health canceled an Illinois teenager’s gender-affirming chest surgery, his mother alleged in a document filed in federal court in February. UI Health did not answer questions Tuesday about whether it’s still providing gender-affirming care to minors, saying in statement: “UI Health is committed to providing inclusive care to our community. We will continue to provide gender-affirming care to transgender patients in accordance with the law.”

The changes at hospitals in the Chicago area and across the country came after President Donald Trump issued an executive order earlier this year instructing federal agencies to ensure that institutions, such as hospitals, that receive federal research grants stop offering gender-affirming care to people under the age of 19. That order sought to stop the use of medications to delay puberty, hormone therapy and surgery for people under 19.

Hospitals have since proceeded with caution, despite a judge temporarily blocking enforcement of Trump’s executive order. Illinois Attorney General Kwame Raoul also joined with the attorneys general of 14 other states earlier this year, issuing a statement saying they will protect gender-affirming care and that Illinois and other states would take legal action if funding were halted because of such care.

Last week, the U.S. Department of Justice said it sent more than 20 subpoenas to doctors and clinics that perform “transgender medical procedures on children” though it did not identify those who received the subpoenas.

U.S. Attorney General Pamela Bondi said in a statement at the time, “Medical professionals and organizations that mutilated children in the service of a warped ideology will be held accountable by this Department of Justice.”

Proponents of access to gender-affirming care for minors, however, say it’s important health care with implications for mental health. The American Academy of Pediatrics is among the organizations that support access to gender-affirming care for minors.

Nationally, 27 states have laws or policies limiting access to gender affirming care for minors, according to KFF, a nonprofit health policy research, polling and news organization.

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