March 18, 2025

Ranking Member Takano Blasts VA’s Decision to End Necessary Treatment for Trans Veterans

Press Contact

Meagan Whalen (Communications Director)
Elain Shubat (Deputy Communications Director/Digital Director)

­­­WASHINGTON — Ranking Member Mark Takano, who also serves as Chair of the Congressional Equality Caucus, released the following statement after the Department of Veterans Affairs announced it will phase out veterans’ treatments for gender dysphoria:

“This isn’t cost-cutting, it’s cruelty. Secretary Doug Collins is unilaterally restricting medical care for transgender veterans, ignoring the clinical judgment of VA providers that have prescribed this care and the expertise of all the major medical associations in the United States that support this care.

Veterans deserve access to the medical care their providers deem appropriate—without Secretary Collins’s interference. Secretary Collins's willingness to pit veterans against each other in [yesterday's] announcement is shameful. It shows that he is unwilling to take his responsibility to support all of our veterans, regardless of their identity or medical needs, seriously.”

BACKGROUND:
On March 17, 2025, the Department of Veterans Affairs announced that it would be phasing out treatments for gender dysphoria even if medical professionals deem this care necessary to the health and wellbeing of transgender veterans under their care. VA cited President Trump’s Executive Order that erases the existence of transgender people to justify this decision. The Secretary’s announcement directly contradicts the Veterans Health Administration’s own claims made in  a March 14th memo. The memo rescinded VHA Directive 1341(4), which required VHA to ensure “the respectful delivery of health care to transgender and intersex veterans who are enrolled in the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) health care system or are otherwise eligible for VA care.”  The memo claimed “this rescission does not affect existing clinical guidance,” indicating that care for veterans would be unchanged. It further suggested that rulemaking would be necessary for changes to be made to the scope of healthcare services offered to transgender veterans. This new policy demonstrates those claims to be untrue.

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