Equality Caucus Condemns Republicans for Politicizing Children’s Hospital Bill

WASHINGTON, DC – The Congressional Equality Caucus released the following statement ahead of today's House Energy and Commerce Health Subcommittee hearing on "Examining Proposals That Provide Access To Care For Patients And Support Research For Rare Diseases." The hearing will cover H.R. 3887, the Children's Hospital GME Support Reauthorization Act of 2023. This bill would reauthorize the Children's Hospital Graduate Medical Education Program but prohibit children's hospitals that have provided gender-affirming care to people under 18 in the previous fiscal year from receiving payments under the program.

"Today's hearing is nothing more than another opportunity for Republicans to attack the transgender community and the healthcare they need. Republicans took a normally bipartisan bill and morphed it into a partisan attack against evidence-based, medically-necessary care for transgender youth," said Equality Caucus Chair Mark Pocan (WI-02). "Extreme MAGA Republicans think they should decide what is best for trans youth—as opposed to these youth, their parents, and their medical professionals. These attacks must end. I urge my colleagues to defend transgender youth at this hearing and reject this partisan bill."

The Children's Hospital Graduate Medical Education program was first enacted in 1999 to provide children's hospitals with financial support for direct and indirect expenses associated with operating medical residency training programs. The program has previously been reauthorized with broad bipartisan support. For example, the Dr. Benjy Frances Brooks Children's Hospital GME Support Reauthorization Act of 2018 passed by voice vote in the House and by unanimous consent in the Senate.

Every major medical association supports age-appropriate gender-affirming care for transgender people, and peer-reviewed research has shown that gender-affirming care improves the mental health of transgender and nonbinary young people.

###

Founded in 2008, the mission of the Congressional Equality Caucus is to promote equality for all, regardless of sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, or sex characteristics, including intersex traits. The Caucus is strongly committed to achieving the full enjoyment of human rights for LGBTQI+ people in the U.S. and around the world.