OPINION: The University of Michigan Must Reinstate Gender-Affirming Care
By: Eli Woltmann-Lewis
Over one year ago, on August 25th, 2025, the University of Michigan announced its withdrawal from providing gender-affirming care to patients under the age of 19. Shortly after, Corewell Healthcare became the second-largest health provider within Michigan to make this cut. Two months later, on November 6, 2025, the University of Michigan Faculty Senate “voted overwhelmingly to urge Michigan Medicine to resume gender-affirming care for individuals under the age of 19.” In the motion, it stated that more than 200 undergraduate 18-year-olds at the University of Michigan were stripped of access to critical gender-affirming care.
The decision stemmed from President Trump’s Executive Order 14187 signed on January 28, 2025, titled “Protecting Children From Chemical and Surgical Mutilation.” This order, which is misleading and blatantly incorrect, has negatively impacted the lives of many trans 18-year-olds and youth and has led to healthcare providers discontinuing the crucial and life-saving gender-affirming care. Many of the claims within the order, such as “...children soon regret that they have been mutilated…,” are easily debunked. Studies show time and time again that regret rates are undoubtedly low, and in the rare case that gender-affirming care is regretted, it is not because the individual no longer identifies as trans. In fact, regret rates for gender-affirming surgeries are 0.5%-2%, whereas the regret rate for surgeries unrelated to gender-affirming care is 14%–21%.
Even though Trump’s order was blocked by a Federal Judge, healthcare providers in states where gender-affirming care remains legal have halted care, including Michigan. Some claim this was out of fear due to subpoenas and threats of funding cuts; however, for a school that asks its applicants to write an admissions essay explaining how they will “challenge the present and enrich the future,” the University has failed to do so itself.
Additionally, the day after the University ceased providing care, Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel issued a letter to patients impacted by the federal funding cut threats to Michigan Healthcare Providers. Nessel states, “Refusing healthcare services to a class of individuals based on their protected status, such as withholding the availability of services from trans individuals based on their gender identity or their diagnosis of gender dysphoria, while offering such services to cisgender individuals, may constitute discrimination under Michigan law.” Nessel joined 32 cases as well as a suit against Trump on the halting of care for trans patients under the age of 19 and urges providers to reconsider cutting gender-affirming care, as it may go against Michigan law, specifically the Elliott-Larsen Civil Rights Act of 2023.
This past Thursday, September 17th, organizations such as The People’s Coalition, the Huron Valley Democratic Socialists of America, Equality Michigan, local Indivisible chapters, the Interfaith Council for Peace & Justice, and dozens of others, hosted a rally outside of the Alexander Ruthven building, protesting this decision and urging the University to reinstate care. This demonstration is critical, as a full year after Michigan Medicine chose capitulation over patient well-being, the cost of its decision and inaction is clear. Gender-affirming care remains legal under Michigan law, protected by the Elliott-Larsen Civil Rights Act and defended by state leadership, yet Michigan’s top university is continuing to comply with unauthorized federal overreach at the expense of its own students and local youth. As the University enters the second year of these restrictions, hundreds of young people and students remain stranded without the vital support they need. The University of Michigan must restore comprehensive healthcare to every patient under 19 if it hopes to maintain its reputation as a leading research institution committed to evidence-based medicine and human dignity.
Eli Woltmann-Lewis
Michigan College Democrats
