Fenway Health Restricts Treatment for Patients Under 19 In Capitulation To Trump

“This is a fundamental betrayal to the core mission of Fenway and the patients they serve.”

In a move that shocked families, patients, and trans rights advocates, Fenway Health, the non-profit community LGBTQ+ health center headquartered in Boston, has ceased providing puberty blockers and hormone treatment for trans youth under the age of 19.

This means even 18-year-olds—legal adults—will be impacted by the restrictions. Those under the cut-off will no longer be able to access these evidence-based best practices in care for transgender young people

Gretchen, a Massachusetts mother to a trans teen who has been receiving health care at Fenway, told Erin in the Morning she was shocked when they learned about the end of the program. She requested her full name be withheld due to privacy concerns about her family’s medical care.

“We were devastated—we don’t have a back up plan,” Gretchen said. “The biggest blow for me is that we live in a very blue state with a governor who is very understanding of these issues. I was shocked that, in our blue bubble, this came to pass.”

In a public statement, Fenway said it would be “unable to provide medical gender-affirming care (hormones and puberty blockers) for patients under the age of 19” due to recent updates of “federal requirements.”

“This change in position is a response to a shifting federal landscape that requires us to adapt in order to remain compliant,” the statement continued. “Fenway Health is a federally qualified health center (FQHC)”—meaning, among other things, it receives federal funds—“and we are required to maintain compliance with [Health Resources and Services Administration] regulations.”

Fenway could try to fight federal attacks on funding—other agencies and institutions who have sued over funding held hostage by Trump have secured legal victories, at least for now. Instead, Fenway chose to comply in advance, which is especially jarring given its largely lower-income clientele and its historic place in queer and trans medicine. Fenway was founded explicitly for LGBTQ-centered care.

You can see the full message from Fenway here:

Fenway is the latest domino to fall as trans-affirming health care clinics around the country enact sweeping restrictions, and states begin to take aim at adult care, too. Like Fenway, many clinics are citing federal or state guidelines. But there is no federal law banning gender-affirming care for transgender young people. And in Massachusetts, state laws protect a patient’s right to be free from discrimination on the basis of sex or gender identity. This means the attorney general could, in theory, have cause to pursue litigation against Fenway for halting care.

“As a former board member, I am disgusted by Fenway Health’s actions to end gender affirming care for trans youth,” Alejandra Caraballo, a legal scholar and Harvard instructor who is also active in the fight for transgender rights, told Erin in the Morning.

“They have provided no actual changes in federal regulations that would require them to do so and are not being truthful about why they are ceasing care,” she said. “This is a fundamental betrayal to the core mission of Fenway and the patients they serve. Trans patients cannot trust this organization has their best interests at heart.”

A Fenway spokesperson would not comment on the record beyond their existing statement, but they did refer Erin in the Morning to a memo from the HRSA. That agency cites the debunked, anti-trans screed published by the Department of Health and Human Services in May at the behest of a Trump executive order.

The HHS report turned out to be written, at least in part, by right-wing anti-trans extremists, rather than trans people or doctors with clinical expertise on the matter.

Meanwhile, the HRSA memo cited by Fenway says the agency will “deprioritize” funding for programs that follow medical best practices for treating trans youth, which sometimes includes giving patients access to hormones or puberty blockers. Notably, however, “deprioritizing” a program is different than outlawing it—meaning that it is not mandatory for Fenway to comply. Its choice to do so is seen by many as an ailing effort to appease an administration whose stated goal is not just to eradicate trans health care, but also trans people from public life itself.

Caraballo said the memo is a flimsy justification for the care stoppage. “It’s just a statement by HRSA about priorities,” Caraballo said. “What if HRSA says HIV prevention or any and all gender affirming care is not a priority? Would they just cease providing that? Of course not. They’d fight it. This is them putting up the white flag on trans youth.”

Meanwhile, Massachusetts has been vocally and ferociously protective of its trans community. It passed a groundbreaking law establishing a trust fund to preserve trans-affirming health care in the state, regardless of what happens to federal dollars. Its attorney general signed on to a lawsuit taking the Trump White House to task over its anti-trans care policies. MIT in Cambridge was the first college in the country to reject President Donald Trump’s anti-LGBTQ, anti-DEI, and anti-immigrant education compact. And the nearby Boston Children’s Hospital has fought tooth and nail to protect its trans patients and staff.

“Fenway Health cutting off access to medical treatment for trans youth is shameful and unnecessary,” said J.T. Scott, a Ward 2 city councilor in Somerville, Massachusetts, on BlueSky.

Scott joined other social media users galvanizing Massachusetts residents to call and apply pressure to Fenway as well as state officials. “Tell Fenway and the AG what you think about abandoning trans youth,” Scott said.