The Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) announced on Monday that it will begin ending access to chemical castration medications for transgenders. VA Secretary Doug Collins emphasized the agency’s commitment to serving all veterans but stated that those seeking gender transition would need to fund such efforts independently. This move follows a similar action underway at the Department of Defense, as previously reported by The National Pulse.
“All eligible Veterans – including trans-identified Veterans – will always be welcome at VA and will always receive the benefits and services they’ve earned under the law. But if Veterans want to attempt to change their sex, they can do so on their own dime,” Sec. Collins said in a statement.
Under the new policy, the VA will stop offering so-called “cross-sex hormone therapy” to veterans with a current or past diagnosis of gender dysphoria. However, exemptions will be made for those already receiving such treatments through the VA or who started them before their military discharge and qualify for VA healthcare.
NO SEX-CHANGE SURGERIES.
Veterans who do not meet the outlined criteria will be ineligible for these hormone therapies. Further, the VA specified it would not perform any medical or surgical procedures related to gender dysphoria. Financial savings from these policy changes will be reallocated to veterans with severe injuries.
Records on the prevalence and costs of these procedures within the VA are inconsistent. The Veterans Health Administration estimates that fewer than one-tenth of one percent of the 9.1 million veterans under its care identify as transgender. Although VA has historically denied offering sex-change surgeries, a recent report suggests that the agency previously circumvented policies to provide gender-transition-related items under the Biden government.
These services included prosthetic devices and accessories designed to assist with gender presentation. Such practices were authorized under Directive 1341(4), which has since been revoked. The latest VA announcement aligns with an executive order signed by President Donald J. Trump on January 20 affirming the policy that U.S. law recognizes only two biological sexes.