Healthcare

Biden Laments Defense Spending Bill’s Ban On Sex Change Surgeries For Kids

Flickr/Official White House Photo by Cameron Smith

President Joe Biden slammed Congress’ defense spending bill Monday over a provision that prevents the Pentagon from picking up the tab for child sex change procedures.

The National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) of 2025 places a prohibition on Department of Defense (DOD) health insurance from covering any transgender operations for minors that could “result in sterilization,” according to the bill. Biden decried the inclusion of the ban as interfering with “parents’ roles to determine the best care for their children” and alleged that it discriminates on the basis of so-called gender identity.

“This section undermines our all-volunteer military’s ability to recruit and retain the finest fighting force the world has ever known by denying health care coverage to thousands of our service members’ children,” the statement reads. “No service member should have to decide between their family’s health care access and their call to serve our Nation.”

The move comes even after the Biden administration attempted to distance itself in June from supporting child sex changes, after court documents revealed that Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Assistant Secretary Rachel Levine attempted to remove age guidelines from World Professional Association of Transgender Health’s (WPATH) care recommendations.

“Adm. Levine shared her view with her staff that publishing the proposed lower ages for gender transition surgeries was not supported by science or research, and could lead to an onslaught of attacks on the transgender community,” an HHS spokesperson told The New York Times in response to the revelations.

The Daily Caller News Foundation previously revealed that top doctors at WPATH acknowledged, and appeared to challenge the risks of irreversible sex change procedures, exclusively obtained footage shows. The doctors also acknowledged the devastating complications that could result from these medical interventions.

The White House did not immediately respond to the DCNF’s request for comment.