HHS tells states parental refusal to affirm a child’s gender identity should not alone justify removal

The Department of Health and Human Services said it has sent letters to every state reminding officials that children should not be removed from their homes solely because parents decline to support a child’s self‑identified gender, Assistant Secretary for the Administration for Children and Families Alex Adams said.

Admiral Brian Christine, assistant secretary for health, referenced a State of the Union example and said HHS was sending "a clear and unequivocal message to all 50 states" that "acknowledging biological reality and exercising sincerely held religious beliefs should not constitute child abuse or neglect under federal law." The department produced the statement through HHS staff.

The letters, Adams said, reiterate HHS’s role overseeing the Child Abuse Prevention and Treatment Act (CAPTA) and remind states that removal of a child from the home must be based on "objective evidence or imminent risk of serious harm," not solely on a parent’s refusal to affirm a child’s gender identity. "Today, we sent letters to every state reminding them that children may not be removed from their homes solely because parents decline to support a child's self identification," Adams said.

HHS urged states to adopt clear statutory definitions of abuse and neglect that explicitly protect parents’ rights to raise children in accordance with their biological beliefs, the officials said. Brian Christine said that 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."

The agency framed the guidance as a defense of parental rights and of "sincerely held religious beliefs and moral convictions across all of the programs that we administer." The statement includes a reference to President Trump’s State of the Union remarks and says HHS will "continue to stand for children's safety, parental rights, and the rule of law without apology and without exception."

No enforcement action, new federal regulation, or specific state-by-state guidance beyond the letters was announced in the statement. The HHS-produced statement does not include responses from state child-welfare agencies, court records, or case-level evidence. The department produced the statement; a production credit appears at the end of the release.