2 weeks Ago By Kristen Schorsch
Dozens of families and medical students are calling for Illinois Attorney General Kwame Raoul to prompt two major hospitals in Chicago to resume transgender surgeries for young people. About two months ago, Lurie Children’s Hospital and Northwestern Memorial Hospital, which are near downtown Chicago, stopped providing gender care surgeries for people younger than 19 after an executive order from Republican President Donald Trump threatened to cut federal funding, among other potential actions. After the order, Raoul and 14 attorneys general in other states vowed to protect access to gender affirming care.
In a statement on Feb. 5, Raoul invoked the Illinois Human Rights Act , saying that health care providers could not discriminate against patients because of their gender identity. But this week, Raoul said it would be hard to make a case that Lurie and Northwestern are violating state law.
“I don’t look at Lurie or Northwestern as a bad actor here,” Raoul, a Democrat, said after a City Club event, where he told a packed room of civic leaders in a restaurant near downtown to stand up against intimidation from the White House. “You can’t (be) said to be acting discriminatory when the federal government is holding a gun to your head.” In recent weeks dozens of families and advocates have written to Raoul’s office asking him to enforce the Illinois Human Rights Act and demand that hospitals keep providing treatment, according to documents WBEZ obtained under the Illinois Freedom of Information Act.
Meanwhile, more than 100 students at Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine in a letter to leaders at the medical school and its affiliated health system asked them to resume gender affirming surgeries. “The decision to comply with this order sets an alarming precedent that we as an institution value political signaling over the needs of the populations we serve, the recommendations of our professional associations, and the oaths we take as physicians,” the letter says. “To put it bluntly: this compliance simply flies in the face of Northwestern Medicine’s stated commitment to deliver world-class, culturally competent care regardless of ability to pay, race, age, gender, sexuality or any other social factor.
’” When Lurie stopped surgeries they referred many patients to Northwestern, which then canceled their appointments, families told WBEZ. In a statement, Dr. Robert Garofalo, founding director of Lurie’s Gender Development Program, has said Lurie canceled surgeries to preserve the majority of other gender affirming care they still provide, such as puberty blockers, hormones and therapy.
A Northwestern spokesman has declined repeated requests to comment. A federal judge has since blocked the enforcement of Trump’s order. Many families have told WBEZ they feel betrayed and disappointed by the hospitals’ actions, and they fear what other gender affirming care the hospitals may stop next.
In addition, WBEZ obtained more than 40 emails or letters from families and advocates to Raoul’s office through a public records request. The office redacted the names of people who wrote to the attorney general. Several people implored Raoul to pressure or take action against the hospitals to keep offering gender affirming care.
“While the statement in support of transgender residents of Illinois was an excellent start, the lack of followup and tangible support has made that statement ring hollow,” one person wrote. “Please step up, do better, and hold these organizations like Lurie and Northwestern accountable when they discriminate against their transgender patients.” Some emails were emotional pleas from parents, describing how years of gender affirming medical care have helped their children thrive — make friends, gain confidence, and excel in everything from martial arts to honors classes.
“We have upcoming care for treatment this spring & summer and we are so fearful that this will be taken away,” wrote one parent who was concerned about Trump’s executive order. “This will be devastating for our child to not get the care needed. My teen is in such a good place right now, knowing they can be who they want to be and that they have the resources and treatment to get them there.
Had we not found the help here, I am not sure where we would be. ..
. I am begging you to please keep these programs and care available for our children.” Another parent wrote that their child was 10 years old when they were hospitalized multiple times at Lurie for having suicidal thoughts.
Then they received support and gender-affirming care at the hospital, which this parent now fears could end. A mother of a trans daughter, worried about losing access to medical treatment, pleaded: “Please, please help us get her to adulthood.” Research underscores how lifesaving transgender medical care can be, such as decreasing depression and anxiety .
Transgender youth experience more violence, bullying and suicidal thoughts compared to their peers, according to a 2023 study from the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. At Feinberg, first-year medical students Adam Davies and Rachel Washart co-founded the Gender Affirming Care Interest Group. They emailed their letter to Northwestern Memorial HealthCare CEO Dr.
Howard Chrisman and Feinberg Dean Dr. Eric Neilson. “It’s felt frustrating to kind of raise our voice over and over and not receive a response,” Washart said in an interview.
Spokespeople for Chrisman and Neilson did not provide comment. The students say Northwestern’s sudden cancellation of gender affirming surgeries could alienate not only patients but also transgender and non-binary faculty and staff. They say the move also affects their training and education.
“This policy that Northwestern Medicine has is pretty out of line with my values as a student,” said Davies, who said he struggled with his mental health as an undergraduate and felt more comfortable with himself after having a double mastectomy. “I also think it’s out of line with their values as an institution, and I think it’s also out of line with the values of, like, the citizens who live in the city of Chicago and in Illinois.” Kristen Schorsch covers public health and Cook County for WBEZ.
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