Corewell Health Stops Youth Transgender Treatments

Corewell Health must have received the same DoJ subpoena that Michigan Medicine did. Corewell just announced that they will no longer provide "gender-affirming care" for minors.  Attorney General Nessel has not yet threatened Corewell for stopping transgender treatments, but she should weigh in later today:

https://www.freep.com/story/news/health/2025/09/10/corewell-health-halts-gender-affgirming-care-trans-minors-michigan/86082316007/

Corewell is latest state health system to halt gender-affirming care for trans minors
By Georgea Kovanis - September 10, 2025

Key Points
*    Corewell Health is latest Michigan hospital to halt gender-affirming care for minors.
*    Michigan Medicine, the University of Michigan health care system, cited pressure from the Trump administration when it halted gender-affirming care for patients under 19 years of age last month.
*    Equality Michigan, a LGBTQ+ advocacy organization, decried Corewell's decision.

Citing the "serious risk of legal action," Corewell Health on Sept. 10 became the latest Michigan health care system to discontinue gender-affirming care for minors.

A statement provided to the Free Press by Corewell said: "Given the serious risk of legal and regulatory action, Corewell Health will no longer prescribe puberty blockers or hormone therapy to minors for gender affirmation. Like many health care systems across the country, we made this decision to protect both our health care providers and our patients. We will continue to compassionately address the health needs of our patients who are in transition or wish to transition, including providing mental health support."

Last month, under pressure from the Trump administration, Michigan Medicine, the University of Michigan's health system, halted gender-affirming care for patients under the age of 19, which is the age President Donald Trump specified in his executive order threatening to strip federal funding from hospitals and providers offering offer gender-affirming care to young people. Corewell said it would no longer provide care to minors. Generally, minors are considered under 18 years of age, not under 19. When asked for clarification on the matter, Corewell spokesman Mark Geary referred the Free Press to the prepared statement the hospital issued.

Hospital systems and doctors who provide gender-affirming care to minors have been under increasing pressure to stop the practice since Trump's executive order earlier this year.

In July, the U.S. Department of Justice said it sent more than 20 subpoenas to hospitals and doctors that provide gender-affirming care to minors.

"The University of Michigan, including Michigan Medicine, is one of multiple institutions across the country that has received a federal subpoena as part of a criminal and civil investigation into gender-affirming care for minors," according to a statement released by Michigan Medicine at the time of its decision to halt treatments for young people.

The exact content of the Michigan Medicine subpoenas is unclear, though a person familiar with the situation who spoke on the condition of anonymity said the subpoenas asked for patient information and medical records. Documents filed in association with a lawsuit against the Trump administration show that a subpoena for the Children's Hospital of Philadelphia also requested patient medical records.

Geary didn't respond when asked if Corewell was subpoenaed by the Justice Department.

That health system's decision came one day after a federal judge in Massachusetts quashed a Justice Department subpoena served on Boston Children's Hospital. In his decision, U.S. District Judge Myong Joun wrote that the Justice Department subpoena's requests for documents were "overbroad." He also wrote: "The Administration has been explicit about its disapproval of the transgender community and its aim to end (gender-affirming care)" and that the "subpoena reflects those goals."

Equality Michigan, a LGBTQ+ advocacy organization expressed disappointment over Corewell's decision. “It is devastating to see yet another healthcare giant turn its back on transgender youth and their families," said Erin Knott, Equality Michigan's executive director. "Corewell’s decision underscores a disturbing pattern. Institutions that should be at the forefront of providing compassionate, evidence-based care are instead retreating under political pressure, leaving vulnerable young people to shoulder the harm."This is not just a matter of policy, it’s a matter of lives. Families who once relied on Corewell now face having their care taken away, and trans youth are left with the message that their health and well-being are expendable."

Gender-affirming care for young people is legal in Michigan.

When Michigan Medicine stopped gender-affirming care for minors, Michigan Attorney General called the health system "cowardly" and "shameful" for yielding to Trump's pressure.

In an open letter to patients and providers, Nessel said: "Refusing healthcare services to a class of individuals based on their protected status, such as withholding the availability of services from transgender individuals based on their gender identity or their diagnosis of gender dysphoria, while offering such services to cisgender individuals, may constitute discrimination under Michigan law.”

In February, Corewell discontinued gender-affirming treatment for new minor patients but reversed its decision days later.

Corewell Health owns hospitals throughout Michigan, historically its Corewell East hospitals, those in metro Detroit, have not provided gender-affirming care to minors. That treatment has been handled by Corewell West in west Michigan.