Wisconsin leaders urge hospital systems to restart gender-affirming care

MADISON, Wisc. (CBS 58) -- Several groups and elected officials in Wisconsin are calling on two hospital systems to resume providing gender-affirming care to minors. The Trump administration has been attempting to pull Medicaid funding from hospitals that provide the care.

The letter is directed at UW Health and Children’s Wisconsin. Both systems stopped providing the care earlier this year. While that federal effort is currently blocked, according to the American Civil Liberties Union, the Wisconsin hospital systems have not resumed care.

Neither hospital system granted on-camera interviews but provided statements.

“In January 2026, UW Health made the decision to pause providing medication therapies for pediatric and adolescent gender affirming care due to ongoing federal actions that threaten health systems that provide this care. This decision was not made lightly. While we continue to believe this is evidence-based care, threats from those federal actions are not fully resolved. Therefore, the current risk is too great to resume this care. We recognize the challenges faced by impacted patients and families and remain committed to providing patient-centered care and supporting their health and well-being throughout this critical time.” – UW Health

“We know this issue matters deeply to many in our community, especially the patients and families we serve. Supporting the well-being of every child remains at the center of everything we do. Due to ongoing legal and regulatory uncertainty affecting organizations and providers across the country, we are not currently providing gender-affirming pharmacologic care. We recognize the impact this has on patients and families. We remain focused on caring for and supporting our patients in every way we can, including through mental and behavioral health care.” – Children’s Wisconsin

While the systems say they are being cautious, elected officials who signed the letter said many people have lost faith in the institutions because of their decisions to stop providing the care.

“Everyone’s care is dependent on all of our care. When you start undermining someone else’s care, your care is in jeopardy,” Ald. Dina Nina Martinez-Rutherford, who represents a portion of Madison, said.

Martinez-Rutherford is transgender herself and is one of several dozen elected officials who signed the letter. She said she believed the health care institutions would resume the care because no funding is currently being withheld.

“I hope they can begin to see under attack our basic rights are our rights to bodily autonomy not just mine not just yours as a women but all of our rights to basic bodily autonomy,” Martinez-Rutherford said.

Organizations like Wisconsin Family Action applauded the president’s actions.

“Wisconsin Family Action values both compassion and truth, it’s crucial to guide children with gender dysphoria toward accepting their biological identity, rather than affirming a mistaken identity through dangerous treatments like puberty blockers, cross-sex hormones, and surgeries. These interventions come with significant risks, including long-term, often irreversible harm,” Wisconsin Family Action President Daniel Degner said in a statement. “Studies show that most children with gender dysphoria will outgrow these feelings if their biological identity is affirmed. Yet, instead of offering truth-based support, we are seeing radical medical treatments that often do more harm than good. Furthermore, claims that gender-affirming care saves lives are not supported by the evidence, as many children experience worse psychological outcomes following these interventions.”

The lawsuit involving the president’s attempt to withhold funding from hospitals that provide gender-affirming care is ongoing. According to the ACLU, those protections remain in place for now. How hospital systems in Wisconsin move forward remains unclear.