The FBI is urging the public to report tips about hospitals, clinics or practitioners offering gender-affirming surgeries for minors.
The bureau issued the request via a June 2 post on X, linking to its phone and online tip lines.
“Help the FBI protect children,” the bureau wrote. “As the Attorney General has made clear, we will protect our children and hold accountable those who mutilate them under the guise of gender-affirming care.”
The FBI’s request follows recent federal actions focused on gender-affirming care for minors. In late May, CMS launched an investigation into an unspecified number of hospitals nationwide that offer such care. In April, the agency also instructed state Medicaid agencies not to cover hormone therapies or gender-affirming surgeries for children, citing “a lack of reliable evidence on long-term benefits.”
While scrutiny of pediatric gender-affirming care has grown in recent years, a study from Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health in Boston found such surgeries are rarely performed on minors.
Currently, 27 states have laws or policies limiting gender-affirming care for minors, 17 of which are being challenged in courts, according to KFF.