NY AG Letitia James Demands NYU Langone Resume Gender-Affirming Care
Following Trump admin threats to pull federal funds, NYU stopped offering puberty-blocking meds and hormone therapies to youth diagnosed with gender dysphoria – the AG is demanding such treatments be resumed.
Featured image: New York Attorney General Letitia James marching in the annual New York City Pride Parade, via Getty Images (photo by vivalapenlar)
It’s been two weeks since NYU Langone has stopped providing gender-affirming care for youth, and New York Attorney General Letitia James has given the hospital notice: “You are hereby advised to immediately resume all service offerings as they had before the change in policy and to make medically necessary puberty-blocking medications and hormone therapies available for patients under 19 who are diagnosed with gender dysphoria,” a Feb. 25 AG office letter reads.
NYU Langone Health had cited “the current regulatory environment” when it announced the halting of its treatment program for transgender minors. The decision came two months after threats from the government to withhold federal funding from hospitals that provide pediatric gender affirming care, including hormone therapy, puberty blockers and surgical procedures. Last year, NYU Langone had also stopped taking on new patients, following Trump’s Jan. 28, 2025 issuance of an Executive Order, entitled, “Protecting Children From Chemical and Surgical Mutilation.”
Related: NYU Langone Ends Gender Medical Care for Transgender Youth
As GO has previously reported, despite the impact this fantastical “genital mutilation” battle cry has had on the political landscape, the frequency of pediatric genital surgery on trans youth ranges from extremely rare, to non-existent.
Image: Photo by: GHI/UCG/Universal Images Group via Getty Images
The Feb. 25 letter to NYU, written by Darsana Srinivasan, Chief, Health Care Bureau in the Attorney General’s office, noted that puberty blockers and hormone treatments remained available to pediatric patients who were not transgender. Indeed, even while canceling gender-affirming care, per NYU’s website, NYU continues to offer other ‘corrective’-type genital surgical procedures for children who do not appear to be categorized specifically as having gender dysphoria, i.e. those diagnosed with congenital adrenal hyperplasia. (“Our doctors can perform surgery for girls with anatomic differences in the external genitals. Altering the appearance of a girl’s genitals can have a positive impact on her self-confidence and psychological wellbeing.”) Last month, Steve Ritea, a spokesman for NYU Langone Health, declined to comment to GO on the existence of such programs.
Srinivasan wrote, “New York state laws prohibit discrimination based on a patient’s membership in a protected class.”
While the Trump administration ramped up its campaign against the trans community last December – threatening to cut off federal funding (Medicare and Medicaid Services) to hospitals that provide gender transition treatments for adolescents – according to the letter issued by the AG office: “NYU Langone’s change in policy is self-imposed. There has been no change in federal law to require the cessation of medically necessary transgender health care.”
James’ office has given NYU Langone 10 business days to comply with its demands. “Your failure to comply with this directive may result in further action by this office,” the letter states.
