{"id":25632,"date":"2025-06-29T22:59:13","date_gmt":"2025-06-29T22:59:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/25632\/"},"modified":"2025-06-29T22:59:13","modified_gmt":"2025-06-29T22:59:13","slug":"pittsburghers-protest-upmc-gender-affirming-care-cuts","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/25632\/","title":{"rendered":"Pittsburghers protest UPMC gender-affirming care cuts"},"content":{"rendered":"

Around 200 people gathered outside UPMC\u2019s corporate offices in Downtown Pittsburgh on Sunday to protest the health system\u2019s decision to cut gender-affirming care for patients under 19. The policy will reportedly go into effect on June 30<\/a> and, according to some providers, UPMC has told medical staff not to refer patients to other institutions still providing services.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Mayor Ed Gainey was among the activists, families of impacted patients and UPMC employees at the protest outside the U.S. Steel Building, organized by TransYOUniting, a Pittsburgh organization that advocates for transgender rights. \u201cIt\u2019s not enough to say you\u2019re the health care that cares when your actions say, \u2018I don\u2019t give a damn\u2019,\u201d said Gainey.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"\"People gather outside UPMC\u2019s corporate offices in Pittsburgh to protest a new policy that will cut gender-affirming care for patients under 19 on June 29, 2025. (Photo by Caleb Kaufman\/PublicSource)<\/p>\n

Katherine Anderson, a Behavioral Health Therapist working at UPMC Services for Teens at Risk, presented and read out loud an open letter to UPMC leadership, signed by nearly 400 UPMC staff members, including doctors, social workers and nurses, urging them not to end hormone therapy treatment and puberty blockers for patients.\u00a0<\/p>\n

UPMC has confirmed that it will stop prescribing puberty blockers and hormone therapy to patients under 19, citing recent federal directives and concerns about potential criminal liability or loss of federal funding. Legal experts, including the ACLU of Pennsylvania, have noted that these federal directives do not carry the weight of law and that such preemptive rollbacks could signal a broader chilling effect on trans-related care in states without formal bans.<\/p>\n

@publicsource<\/a> <\/p>\n

Happening now: protestors gather outside UPMC’s Downtown headquarters to demand the health system reinstate gender-affirming care for patients 19 and younger.<\/p>\n

\u266c original sound \u2013 publicsource<\/a> <\/p><\/blockquote>\n

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In an emailed statement, a UPMC spokesperson wrote that recent federal actions \u201chave made it abundantly clear that our clinicians can no longer provide certain types of gender-affirming care without risk of criminal prosecution.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

Gainey said the health care giant is \u201con the wrong side of humanity\u201d for capitulating to the Trump administration.<\/p>\n

\"\"Hannah Davy makes signs during a protest of UPMC\u2019s changing policy on gender-affirming care for patients under 19 on June 29. (Photo by Caleb Kaufman\/PublicSource)<\/p>\n

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Dena Stanley, executive director of TransYOUniting, said UPMC is changing course to protect their federal funding, not because of concern for the law. \u201cThis is all preemptive,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

Stanley said UPMC\u2019s policy change is creating a ripple effect across the state. \u201cOther health care agencies are doing the same thing,\u201d she said. \u201cThey are rolling back their care for trans individuals under 19.\u201d Penn State Health has also significantly cut gender-affirming care for patients under 19. Other health systems, such as Allegheny Health Network, have not directly addressed potential policy changes, only stating that they will work within the law.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"AA crowd forms along the sidewalke outside UPMC\u2019s corporate offices in Downtown, where protesters call out planned cuts to gender-affirming care for patients under 19. (Photo by Caleb Kaufman\/PublicSource)<\/p>\n

Also looming over the protest was the recent Supreme Court decision in United States v. Skrmetti, which upheld Tennessee\u2019s statewide ban on gender-affirming care for minors. The case has set a precedent for other states to enact similar bans.\u00a0<\/p>\n

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Stanley\u2019s biggest concern is that young patients who are denied coverage will suffer from severe negative mental health consequences. \u201cWe\u2019re gonna see a lot more of these kids taking their lives,\u201d she said. \u201cThis is not protection for children. This is the complete opposite.\u201d<\/p>\n

Caleb Kaufman is a photojournalist at PublicSource and can be reached at caleb@publicsource.org and on instagram at @caleb_kaufman_photography<\/a><\/p>\n

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