MADISON, Wis. (CBS 58) -- Both UW Health and Children's Wisconsin announced they will be pausing gender affirming care as a result of increased federal pressure. 

Tuesday, Jan. 13, CBS 58 heard from the two organizations on their decision. 

UW-Health released the following statement: 

"UW Health is committed to providing high-quality, compassionate and patient-centered care to our patients and families, including LGBTQ+ patients. Due to recent federal actions, UW Health is pausing prescribing puberty blockers and hormone therapy as part of gender affirming care for patients under 18 years of age. We recognize the uncertainty faced by our impacted patients and families seeking this gender affirming care and will continue to support their health and well-being."

Children's Wisconsin released the following statement: 

"At Children’s Wisconsin, we strongly believe everyone, including LGBTQ+ kids, should be treated with the support, respect, dignity and compassion they deserve. We are communicating to patients that due to escalating legal and federal regulatory risk facing systems and providers across the nation, we are currently unable to provide gender affirming pharmacologic care. Mental and behavioral health services will continue for patients and families who wish to receive this care from us."

The Milwaukee LGBT Community Center released the following statement on Children's Wisconsin and UW Health's decision: 

The decision by Children’s Wisconsin and UW Health to halt the provision of gender affirming medical care for minors is a profound abdication of responsibility, one that will have serious, foreseeable, and potentially devastating consequences for transgender and gender diverse youth across Wisconsin.

“This moment demands moral clarity and institutional courage,” said Ritchie T. Martin, Jr., Executive Director of the Milwaukee LGBT Community Center. “When healthcare systems withdraw medically necessary, evidence based care for transgender youth in response to political pressure, they are not protecting children. They are placing them in harm’s way. Our community’s young people are not abstractions or bargaining chips. They are real, they are vulnerable, and they deserve safety, dignity, and care rooted in science and compassion. Wisconsin cannot credibly claim a commitment to health equity while allowing fear driven policies to strip trans youth of the care that helps them survive and thrive.”

Gender affirming care is evidence based, medically recognized, and lifesaving. It is not experimental. It is not reckless. It is not driven by ideology. It is grounded in decades of clinical research and supported by every major medical association in the United States. Suspending this care under political duress subordinates medical ethics, professional judgment, and patient well being to fear and expediency.

These actions come in response to recent federal policy threats that weaponize funding to coerce hospitals into abandoning trans youth. This is not neutral governance. It is a calculated use of state power to erase access to care for a vulnerable population. Policymakers who advance these measures must be held accountable for the real world harm they unleash. When young people are denied medically appropriate care, the consequences are not abstract. They are measured in worsening mental health outcomes, increased suicidality, family distress, and lives placed at unnecessary risk.

Wisconsin has repeatedly declared its commitment to health equity as both a moral imperative and a policy goal. That commitment is rendered hollow when institutions retreat at the first sign of political pressure, leaving transgender children and their families to absorb the fallout. Equity is not a slogan. It is a practice. And it is tested precisely in moments like this.

The Milwaukee LGBT Community Center partners with Children’s Wisconsin and UW Health through our Mental Health Services and referral networks. We see firsthand the trust families place in these systems. We also see the fragility of that trust when care is withdrawn not because it is unsafe or unsound, but because it has become politically inconvenient.

To pause or eliminate access to gender affirming care is not a neutral act. It is a decision with moral weight. It communicates to trans youth that their identities are negotiable, their needs are expendable, and their lives are collateral damage in a broader ideological battle.

At this moment, the Milwaukee LGBT Community Center has intentionally shifted its priorities to engage in thoughtful and balanced strategy sessions with community members, clinicians, advocates, and partners. This work is deliberate, necessary, and urgent.

“In times of uncertainty and adversity, our responsibility is to respond with resolve, strategy, and care for one another,” Martin added. “We are bringing together families, clinicians, advocates, and partners to navigate this moment with intention and strength. We remain committed to creating safe, affirming spaces where transgender and gender diverse youth are seen, supported, and protected. No policy shift will erase our community, and no political agenda will diminish our determination to ensure that every young person knows they are valued and not alone.”

The Milwaukee LGBT Community Center will continue to provide affirming, supportive, and life saving services to transgender and gender diverse youth and their families. But community organizations cannot and should not be expected to compensate for the failure of large systems to stand firm in their values.

This work requires sustained resources. Those who believe in protecting trans youth, defending health equity, and ensuring that affirming care remains accessible in Wisconsin are encouraged to support this critical work by donating at: Our Children deserve better.

About the Milwaukee LGBT Community Center
The Milwaukee LGBT Community Center promotes the health, safety, and well-being of LGBTQ+ people and their allies through advocacy, education, and comprehensive support services. The Center provides a welcoming, inclusive space where individuals of all identities can access vital resources, build community, and find the support they need to live authentically and thrive. With a commitment to empowerment and equity, the Center works to ensure that every person, regardless of sexual orientation, gender identity, or expression, has the opportunity to live with dignity, pride, and purpose.

Our children deserve better. Their lives depend on it.