The Pentagon is seen on Oct. 21, 2021. (Robert H. Reid/Stars and Stripes)
WASHINGTON — A proposal to ban health care coverage of certain medical treatments for the transgender children of service members has become a point of contention as the House readies this week for a vote on a defense policy bill containing the measure.
Democrats and activists contend the provision in the National Defense Authorization Act, an annual Pentagon policy bill that Congress passes every year, will block some Tricare access for military dependents and hurt military retention.
Tricare is a health care program for uniformed services members and their families.
Rep. Adam Smith of Washington, the top Democrat on the House Armed Services Committee, estimates there are 6,000 to 7,000 children of service members who are receiving treatment for gender dysphoria.
“It does then put the service member in a terrible position,” he said. “If they have a child who is experiencing gender dysphoria, they know if they stay in the military, it will not be treated. And I think that’s a problem.”
Retention has stayed steady in the military in recent years but recruiting has flagged, leaving the military struggling to fill its ranks.
The provision limits the coverage ban to treatments “that could result in sterilization” for children younger than 18 but opponents say they are concerned that could also affect procedures such as hormone therapy and puberty blockers.
Smith blamed the inclusion of the provision on House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., who he said stepped into a normally bipartisan bill negotiation process to appease certain members of the Republican caucus.
“To deny what could potentially be life-saving health care to children of service members for any political reason is something I don’t believe we should do,” Smith said.
Johnson and other Republicans have defended the measure, with Johnson calling it a “critical and necessary step” to protect children from “radical gender ideology and experimental drugs.”
Rep. Nancy Mace, R-S.C., said taxpayers should not be funding “gender-affirming abuse or sterilization of minors.”
“Thankfully, the FY ’25 NDAA includes a ban to put an end to this insanity,” she wrote on X.
Democrats have argued Congress should stay out of a medical debate that most lawmakers are not qualified to weigh in on.
“What Republicans are doing is interfering with a parent’s ability to get health care for their children,” Rep. Teresa Leger Fernandez, D-N.M., said Tuesday. “Why do Republicans keep interfering in personal health care decisions? We have Republican politicians sitting on the examination table when a parent is trying to get their children care.”
The nonprofit National Women’s Law Center on Monday urged lawmakers to vote against the defense authorization bill if the transgender care provision is not scrubbed from the legislation.
“Congress should focus on protecting our health, rights and freedoms rather than enacting laws intended to control, dehumanize and erase transgender people,” the organization said in a statement. “Everyone, including military service members and their loves ones, deserves access to the health care they need.”
The House is scheduled to vote on the legislation later this week. Smith on Monday said he hoped Democrats would vote against advancing the bill in hopes of forcing Republicans to remove the transgender section, but the legislation advanced Tuesday with a 211-207 vote.
