HHS Announcement on Gender Transition Procedures for Minors

Indiana AG - Newsroom

Published December 18th, 2025

Detected April 5th, 2026

Summary

Indiana Attorney General Todd Rokita attended HHS Secretary Kennedy Jr.'s announcement of federal actions to prohibit gender transition procedures on minors. Secretary Kennedy signed a declaration stating these treatments do not meet professionally recognized healthcare standards, while CMS Administrator Dr. Oz announced a proposed rule to ban hospitals from performing such procedures on children under 18 as a condition of CMS program participation.

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What changed

HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. signed a declaration stating that sex-rejecting treatments on children do not meet professionally recognized standards of healthcare. Simultaneously, CMS Administrator Dr. Mehmet Oz announced that CMS would release a notice of proposed rulemaking to prohibit hospitals from performing gender transition procedures on minors under 18 as a condition of participation in federal healthcare programs. Attorney General Rokita, one of two state AGs attending the announcement, voiced support for the actions as aligned with 'Hoosier common sense' values.

Healthcare providers, particularly hospitals participating in Medicare and Medicaid, should monitor for the CMS proposed rulemaking. When published, the notice will establish a formal comment period. Entities performing gender transition procedures on minors should evaluate how the rulemaking would affect their CMS participation status and begin assessing operational changes needed to comply with potential prohibitions. The rulemaking is expected to directly impact hospital reimbursement under federal healthcare programs.

What to do next

Monitor for CMS notice of proposed rulemaking in the Federal Register
Review institutional policies on gender transition procedures for patients under 18
Assess potential impact on CMS program participation eligibility

Source document (simplified)

Attorney General Todd Rokita attends Trump administration announcement of bold actions to stop sex-rejecting procedures on minors

Thursday, December 18, 2025

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Add to calendar Attorney General Todd Rokita attends Trump administration announcement of bold actions to stop sex-rejecting procedures on minors

New HHS rules echo Hoosier common sense

U.S. Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. on Thursday announced bold federal actions to protect children from chemical and surgical mutilation done in the name of “gender transition.” Attorney General Todd Rokita was one of two state attorneys general attending the announcement in the nation’s capital.

“We must protect our kids and put an end to these irreversible and harmful experimental procedures that often lead to lifelong regret,” Attorney General Rokita said afterward. “We are blessed to have an administration in the White House fully committed to the same kind of commonsense values that prevail among everyday Hoosiers in Indiana.”

Secretary Kennedy signed a declaration stating that sex-rejecting treatments on children do not meet professionally recognized standards of health care.

Dr. Mehmet Oz, administrator for the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS), announced Thursday that his agency would release a notice of proposed rulemaking to prohibit hospitals from performing sex-rejecting procedures on children under age 18 as a condition of participation in Medicare and Medicaid programs.

Under another proposed CMS rule, Medicaid would no longer fund sex-rejecting procedures for minors.

These actions, among others, came a day after the U.S. House of Representatives passed the Protect Children’s Innocence Act, which would criminalize the act of performing sex-rejecting on minors.

In Indiana, Attorney General Rokita has prioritized protecting children from these cruel and dangerous procedures.

In federal court, Attorney General Rokita has strenuously and successfully defended an Indiana law enacted in 2023 that prohibits medical practitioners from providing gender transition procedures to minors, including surgeries, hormone treatments and puberty blockers.

In 2024, Attorney General Rokita co-led a successful 22-state amicus brief to the U.S. Supreme Court supporting the State of Tennessee’s authority to enforce a law that — similar to Indiana’s — prohibits medical interventions before age 18 intended to alter boys’ or girls’ appearance and physiology so that they resemble members of the opposite sex.

Also in 2024, Attorney General Rokita and 14 other states successfully sued the Biden administration over a rule transforming a federal prohibition on sex discrimination into one on gender identity discrimination. The rule could have forced medical providers to perform surgeries and administer hormones to both children and adults for the purpose of gender transition.

A video of Thursday’s announcement is linked here.

A headshot of Attorney General Rokita is available for download.