Defending Biological Reality and Parental Rights

I'm Admiral Brian Christine, the Assistant Secretary for Health here at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. I'm Alex Adams. I'm the Assistant Secretary for the Administration for Children and Families. At his State of the Union address, President Trump shared the story of Sage Blair, a young woman who was separated from her parents at the age of 14 after school officials attempted to secretly transition her to a male. Our president exposed the reality of what is taking place in some of our schools across the country. And in response, HHS is sending a clear and unequivocal message to all 50 states about cases like that of Sage Blair. Acknowledging biological reality and exercising sincerely held religious beliefs should not constitute child abuse or neglect under federal law. Today, we sent letters to every state reminding them that children may not be removed from their homes solely because parents declined to support a child's self-identification as the opposite sex. The letter reinforces that HHS oversees the Child Abuse Prevention and Treatment Act, also known as CAPTA, and removing a child from their home must be based on objective evidence or imminent risk of serious harm. So a state's decision to break up a family cannot be based solely on a parent's objection to radical gender ideology or irreversible sex-rejecting medical interventions. Our letter encourages states to adopt clear definitions of abuse and neglect that explicitly protect parents' rights to raise children consistent with their biological sex. Public health and child welfare policy must be rooted in sound science, faithful adherence to statute, and respect for constitutional protections. When definitions of abuse and neglect are stretched beyond their legal limits, families are torn apart, parents suffer, children experience unnecessary trauma, and foster care systems are further strained. This action reaffirms our commitment to keeping families together whenever it is safe to do so. As President Trump said during the State of the Union, no state can be allowed to rip children from their parents' arms and transition them to a new gender against the parents' will. Families across the country can be confident that HHS will defend their sincerely held religious beliefs and moral convictions across all of the programs that we administer. At the Department of Health and Human Services, we will continue to stand for children's safety, parental rights, and the rule of law, without apology and without exception.