House-passed NDAA included a ban on gender-affirming care for transgender kids, which strips service members of parental rights to make health care decisions for their own children
WASHINGTON – Today, U.S. Senator John Hickenlooper joined 20 of his Senate colleagues to introduce an amendment to the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) of 2025 to remove Republican-added language that would strip away service members’ parental rights to access medically necessary health care for their transgender children.
“Military parents put their lives on the line to defend our country. They should be free to make health care choices for their own kids without them being used as political prop,” said Hickenlooper.
Specifically, the amendment to the FY2025 NDAA would strike Sec. 708 of the House-passed NDAA, which would ban TRICARE from covering gender-affirming health care service for transgender military children and TRICARE patients under 18.
Every major medical and mental health association in the U.S., representing more than 1.3 million U.S. doctors, supports access to this medically necessary, evidence-based health care for transgender people. If the House-passed NDAA becomes law, it’s estimated that this targeted provision would affect 6,000-7,000 transgender children of service members who would not be able to access the health care that their parents had approved.
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