After Backlash, Planned Parenthood Arizona Resumes Gender Affirming Care

“After a brief pause, we are pleased to announce the continuation of our Gender Affirming Care services,” the organization said.

Paul Lowry // Creative commons

Planned Parenthood Arizona has reinstated care for trans patients following public outcry.

On Friday, April 11, patients reported receiving calls that gender affirming care was being put on “pause” after the Department of Health and Human Services sent out a memo to medical institutions across the country. The letter warned institutions that receive federal funding against providing gender affirming care. Planned Parenthood Arizona is the only branch of the organization reported to have paused care as a result.

In a voicemail left to one of the patients, a Planned Parenthood worker told one patient that they were “hoping that this is a temporary pause for the next week.”

But by the weekend, Lookout—an Arizona-based LGBTQ news site—had broken the story about the cancellations. A banner was added to the organization’s website that said, “Planned Parenthood Arizona is pausing Gender Affirming Care services as we continue to review and evaluate this order. We are committed to keeping our patients updated about the services we provide and will communicate further once we can provide more information.”

By Monday, Erin in the Morning and other news outlets picked up the story. And by Tuesday, the group reversed course. Erin in the Morning had reached out to Planned Parenthood Arizona for comment but did not hear back in time for publication.

A new banner on the website reads:

“Planned Parenthood Arizona deeply values and is dedicated to the LGBTQIA+ community, which includes our patients, supporters, and staff. We recognize how critical it is for our patients to have certainty to access essential services, including Gender Affirming Care.

After a brief pause, we are pleased to announce the continuation of our Gender Affirming Care services. This pause occurred out of an abundance of caution after threats to the Medicaid services in our state.

The onslaught of attacks on sexual and reproductive health care services in Arizona and across the country is alarming, and is a clear, continued effort to shut down Planned Parenthood. This will not be the last threat that aims to deny people medically sound, essential health care, needlessly putting them at risk and unnecessarily creating chaos and confusion around the accessibility of services.”

Notice on Planned Parenthood Arizona website

No publicly known legal action had been taken against Planned Parenthood Arizona at the time of its pause on care. Critics said the move was an act of “overcompliance.” It marks a minor notch in a wider trend seen at medical institutions across the country—such as at NYU Langone, Denver Health and the Children’s Hospital of Los Angeles—of capitulation to anti-trans health care orders.