Patients and their families were notified of the U.’s decision to fully discontinue care earlier this month. Providers will be required to stop all such treatments by April 15.
Doctors have also been instructed they are not allowed to help coordinate hormonal care for patients elsewhere in the state, where it still might be an option.
“We recognize that this change may be distressing,” a spokesperson for University of Utah Health said in a statement.
Already, the U. had shut down its popular health clinic for LGBTQ youth after the Legislature’s 2023 ban under SB16, which prohibited doctors from providing gender-affirming care to any new transgender youth patients.
At the time, that was considered a “moratorium” and only applied to minors who hadn’t already been diagnosed with gender dysphoria. Existing patients have been able to continue seeking care.
But the Utah Legislature is poised this session to extend that moratorium to an all-out permanent ban, requiring doctors to effectively “de-transition” remaining patients.
That comes as President Donald Trump has also pushed, on a federal level, to end access to all gender-affirming care for transgender youth. U.S. Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has threatened to withhold federal funds from hospitals and health care institutions that provide that treatment, which would include the U. as a public facility.
It’s because of that “evolving state and federal landscape” that the U. says it is moving away from offering specialized care for transgender patients under the age of 18.
Read Courtney Tanner's full story at sltrib.com.
This article is published through the Utah News Collaborative, a partnership of news organizations in Utah that aims to inform readers across the state.