WASHINGTON, D.C. (LifeSiteNews) — White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt celebrated on Thursday the closure of the largest American facility committing “transgender” procedures on children, the latest in a string of such shutdowns.
“The largest provider of these barbaric practices will now be closing its doors,” said Leavitt in reference to the “Center for Trans Youth Health and Development at Children’s Hospital Los Angeles,” which, like other so-called “gender-affirming” facilities, commits mutilating surgeries and administers dangerous puberty blockers and cross-sex hormones to kids.
It “is just the latest facility downsizing or eliminating their irreversible and harmful services that feed into the lie that you can somehow change a child’s sex,” remarked Leavitt.
President Trump’s bold executive actions are protecting American children from irreversible chemical and surgical mutilation and the facilities that offer these barbaric services are shutting down as a result.
Thanks to President Trump, gender ideology insanity is over. pic.twitter.com/ZvXALDaQae
— Karoline Leavitt (@PressSec) July 17, 2025
A multitude of “transgender” programs for children across the country are closing in response to President Donald Trump’s executive order banning federal funds to entities that “transition” minors. Leavitt listed a few examples Thursday.
“Phoenix Children’s Hospital has stopped providing puberty blockers and [hormones] to minors,” she announced. “In California, Stanford Medicine ended sex change surgeries for minors. Children’s Hospital Los Angeles is closing its center for Trans Youth Health and Development surgical program. In Illinois, Lurie Children’s Hospital of Chicago stopped sex change surgeries.”
Chicago’s Rush University Medical Center has also “paused” puberty blocker and cross-sex hormones for children, according to internal documents reviewed by Block Club Chicago.
Leavitt highlighted Trump’s role in the facilities’ decisions to halt irreversible practices catering to children’s gender dysphoria.
“The president made it a very early priority to sign very strong executive orders to cut off the funding for any hospital or any medical facility in this country that provides such barbaric procedures,” Leavitt noted. “And, as a result of that strong policy and the president’s strong common sense position on this issue, we’ve had such an overwhelming response, which is great for children.”
The White House press secretary pointed out that “transgender” interventions for children are not just a “political” issue, but also a “cultural issue that impacts children and families.”
“The president wants to protect the innocence of children, and I know the vast majority of Americans support him in that effort,” she continued. “This is a wildly popular and common sense endeavor this administration has taken, and we’ve seen many of these medical institutions have followed through with the president’s executive orders, but we’ll continue to take further action on this important issue.”
A significant body of evidence shows that “affirming” gender confusion carries serious harms, especially when done with children who lack sufficient mental development and maturity to grasp the long-term effects of life-altering, often-irreversible surgical and chemical procedures.
Studies find that more than 80 percent of children suffering gender dysphoria outgrow it on their own by late adolescence and that “reassignment” procedures fail to resolve gender-confused individuals’ heightened tendency to engage in self-harm and suicide – and even exacerbate it, including by reinforcing their confusion and neglecting the actual root causes of their mental strife.
One study concluded, as a number of detransitioners have attested, that “[T]here is strong evidence that children and adolescents who identify as transgender have experienced significant psychological trauma leading to their gender dysphoria.”
