RICHMOND, Va. (WRIC) — Virginia lawmakers are reacting after the Children’s Hospital of Richmond at Virginia Commonwealth University announced it would no longer provide gender-affirming care to youth under the age of 19.
Democratic Del. Rodney Willett (D-Henrico), who also serves on VCU Health’s board of directors, called the news “devastating.”
Willett added that the system had no choice, with President Donald Trump threatening to take away federal funding from hospitals that provide gender-affirming care to minors.
“Once again, the Trump administration is denying healthcare,” Willett told 8News.
Willett also told 8News that the kids who need care are the real victims in this case, and their healthcare decisions should be left up to them, their parents and their doctors.
“Imagine just showing up at the hospital and they say ‘sorry, no, we’re not doing any orthopedic surgeries today because the Trump administration said you can’t have a knee operation,’ — well, that’s essentially what they said. You can’t take care of your children, the way they need to be cared for,” Willett said.
However, Republican Delegate Wren Williams (R-Patrick) disagrees with Willett.
“I don’t think that this is life-saving care for our minors, I think it’s a dangerous experimentation on our kids,” Williams told 8News.
He said children should not be subjected to “permanently body-altering procedures,” even if their parents give them permission to seek such care.
“I think that that is considered child abuse, and I think that making that decision for children who are minors permanently damages them going forward, and it stops their ability to make decisions about their own body in the future,” Williams said.
Willett added that there is practically nothing the General Assembly can do on this issue because the state doesn’t have enough money to make up for any potential funding shortfall if hospitals were to lose their federal funding.
