Johns Hopkins Medicine denies performing gender transition procedures for minors despite claims by HHS
Baltimore's Johns Hopkins Medicine denied performing gender transition procedures for minors after the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) threatened to investigate.
HHS General Counsel Mike Stuart says Johns Hopkins is allegedly taking part in "sex-rejecting" procedures for minors, which he claims do not meet recognized standards of healthcare.
The HHS accuses Hopkins of "continuing to perform heinous and horrific acts of intentional permanent harm to minors."
A Johns Hopkins spokesperson rejected the notion that the health system provides gender transition surgery.
"We have received no formal notice of investigation from (Office of the Inspector General)," a Johns Hopkins spokesperson stated. "Johns Hopkins providers do not perform gender affirming surgery on minor patients. Our patients remain our highest priority."
A mission statement by the hospital says its healthcare team "provides safe and affirming care that is evidence-based, trauma informed, and sensitive to each patient's health needs."
States sue over HHS's efforts to ban transgender care
In December 2025, 19 states, including Maryland, filed a lawsuit over HHS's efforts to ban transgender services for minors.
The states are pushing back against declaration issued by HHS and its inspector general, which called treatments like puberty blockers, hormone therapy and surgeries unsafe and ineffective for children and adolescents experiencing gender dysphoria, or the distress when someone's gender expression doesn't match their sex assigned at birth.
HHS also said doctors could be excluded from federal health programs, such as Medicare and Medicaid, if they provide those types of care.
The states' attorneys general argue that the declaration is inaccurate and unlawful and asks the court to block its enforcement.
According to the lawsuit, HHS's declaration seeks to force providers to stop providing gender-affirming care and circumvent legal requirements for policy changes.
In January 2024, after taking office, President Trump signed an executive order that seeks to cut federal support for certain types of gender transition services for people under the age of 19.