The Administration for Children and Families (ACF), part of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), sent letters to all 50 states, affirming biological reality by stating that children cannot be removed from home on the basis of transgender ideology. Child removals must be rooted in objective signs of abuse or imminent risk of harm, not due to the child’s self-proclaimed gender. Removing a child from home because their parents have a religious objection to transgenderism presents constitutional concerns, the agency warned.
“Parents have the right to raise their children according to their sincerely held religious beliefs and moral convictions,” Assistant Secretary Alex Adams said in a statement. “When states overstep their bounds, ACF will take action to deter inappropriate policies that drive unnecessary interactions with child welfare systems. This is one such example.”
“We sent letters to every state reminding them that children may not be removed from their home solely because parents declined to support a child’s self-identification as the opposite sex,” Adams further stated in a video shared on social media. “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.”
In 2024, Montana’s Child Protective Services (CPS) removed a teenager from her parents after they did not allow her to undergo a gender transition process.
Similarly, California’s SB 107 makes the state a sanctuary haven for transgender-identifying minors. Officials from any state that doesn’t allow transgender-affirming surgery and treatments for minors would be unable to obtain records for citizens who travel to California for the procedure.
