ANN ARBOR, Mich. (Michigan News Source) – On August 25, 2025, the University of Michigan and Michigan Medicine announced they would end gender-affirming care for minors – a change attributed to a federal subpoena and executive pressure.
The University said in a statement, “The University of Michigan, including Michigan Medicine, is one of multiple institutions across the country that has received a federal subpoena as part of a criminal and civil investigation into gender-affirming care for minors. In light of that investigation, and given escalating external threats and risks, we will no longer provide gender-affirming hormonal therapies and puberty blocker medications for minors.”
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The subpoenas align with Trump’s Executive Order from January threatening to withhold federal funding from hospitals providing gender-affirming care to minors.
Advocates blast U-M’s “retreat,” calling it a betrayal of trust.
Advocates of gender-affirming care described the move as capitulation. Erin Knott, executive director of Equality Michigan, in a statement, said that U-M has “chosen to retreat.” She went on to say, “This sends a chilling and damaging message to the very young people who most need affirmation, stability, and support.”
Samuel Bagenstos, professor at the U-M school of law and former general counsel for the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services during the Biden administration told Michigan Public Radio, “To say, ‘Look, we’re really afraid of what the Trump administration might do, so we’re not even going to go into court to try to fight them and stop them from doing this.’ If I were a parent or a transgender teenager who put my trust in this institution, I would feel like that was a breach of trust.”
Jay Kaplan, staff attorney for the ACLU of Michigan’s LGBTQ+ Project, says about the change, “It is profoundly disappointing that (the) University of Michigan made this decision.”
Michigan AG responds to decision
Earlier this month, Michigan Democratic Attorney General Dana Nessel joined a multistate lawsuit challenging “recent federal actions aimed at deterring providers from offering medically appropriate care to individuals under age 19, even in states like Michigan where such care is legal and protected,” according to a statement from her office.
The lawsuit emphasizes that in Michigan, “individuals cannot be denied healthcare services based on, among other classifications, sex or gender identity or expression,” citing protections under the state’s Elliott-Larsen Civil Rights Act.
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On Tuesday, August 26th, Nessel sent out a press release saying, “The announcement from the University of Michigan that they will no longer provide their transgender patients with all of the healthcare options available is shameful, dangerous, and potentially illegal.”
Nessel continued, “This cowardly acquiescence to political pressure from this president and his administration is not what patients have come to expect from an institution that has labeled itself, ‘the leaders and the best,’ and my Department will be considering all of our options if they violate Michigan law.”
Lawmaker blasts U-M, urges kids to seek gender surgeries elsewhere.
Rep. Carrie Rheingans (D-Ann Arbor) took to social media to urge Michigan children seeking gender- transition surgeries to reach out to her office after the U-M announcement. In a video, Rheingans accused the hospital of prioritizing federal funding over care, calling gender treatments “safe and effective” and legal, reminding minors the procedures remain legal in Michigan and is available elsewhere.
U-M’s reversal marks a major turning point in Michigan’s gender care debate, with lawsuits looming and patients caught in the crossfire. Whether viewed as a necessary response to federal pressure or a betrayal of trust, the decision cements Trump’s influence over one of the nation’s top hospitals.
