Vanderbilt University Medical Center in Nashville, Tennessee, recently shut down operations at its Pediatric Transgender Clinic at the Monroe Carell Jr. Children’s Hospital, multiple sources told the Nashville Post on Wednesday.
VUMC has reportedly stopped providing children with gender-transitioning treatments a month before a Tennessee bill will take effect that would prohibit doctors from prescribing minor patients with puberty blockers, hormone treatments, or performing other medical procedures for gender dysphoria.
The bill, signed into law by Republican Governor Bill Lee in March, prevents health care providers “from performing on a minor or administering to a minor a medical procedure if the performance or administration of the procedure is for the purpose of enabling a minor to identify with, or live as, a purported identity inconsistent with the minor’s sex.”
Under the new law, children would be required to end treatment within nine months. Additionally, health care providers who violate the law could face a civil penalty of $25,000 per violation.
Patients’ families told the Post that VUMC sent parents an email informing them their children would no longer receive “gender affirming care.”
The email obtained by the Post read, “Your current medication prescription is affected by the laws coming into effect regarding gender affirming care. VUMC will not fulfill refill requests for medication prescribed for gender affirming care after June 1, 2023. … All medications dispensed for gender affirming care must have a completion date that is prior to 7/1/23.”
Craig Boerner, a VUMC spokesperson, would not confirm whether the clinic plans to continue to provide some services, the Post reported.
“Pertaining to gender-affirming care at Vanderbilt University Medical Center, we continue to fully comply with all federal and state laws and are carefully following the legal proceedings challenging the constitutionality of Tennessee’s new law,” Boerner stated.
The American Civil Liberties Union of Tennessee filed a lawsuit against the state regarding the new law. It expects a preliminary injunction to be filed before the law takes effect on July 1, which would allow treatments to continue at least temporarily.
Gillian Branstetter, a spokesperson for the ACLU of Tennessee, said, “Gender-affirming care would remain legal during the course of our challenge if we get a preliminary injunction from the judge blocking enforcement of any part of the law before the 7/1 effective date. Similar laws have been blocked in Alabama and Arkansas while those trials proceed.”
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