In a move echoing a broader national trend, the Alaska State Medical Board is preparing to vote this Friday, August 22, 2025, on a resolution opposing gender-affirming care for transgender minors. The measure targets hormone treatments and, in rare cases, surgery, even though fewer than 100 Alaska youths are currently receiving such interventions.
The board is made up of members appointed by conservative Governor Mike Dunleavy. It is expected to formalize a statement declaring that gender-affirming treatments lack legitimacy as standard medical practice. The resolution would even allow for disciplinary sanctions against practitioners who provide them. Critics argue that the issue is less about medical ethics and more about policing a marginalized population.
Tom Pittman, director of Identity Inc., one of the few clinics in the state offering care, warned, “It is a very small group of children that are being targeted… the worst kind of discrimination that they could do with the power that they have.”
This initiative follows a March 2025 letter from the medical board urging the Legislature to ban hormonal and surgical treatments for minors, advising alternatives such as psychological support instead. Despite the recommendation, lawmakers declined to act during the session that ended in May.
National advocacy groups quickly condemned the board’s actions. The ACLU of Alaska criticized the March statement as “a political statement… not rooted in science or public health protocols,” and said it “exceeds its authority and threatens essential healthcare for transgender youth”. Activists and providers also described the board’s messaging as harmful misinformation. QueerDoc founder Dr. Crystal Beal wrote that the board’s letter, which referred to gender-affirming care as “mutilation,” was misleading and dangerous.
Alaska is not alone. The national landscape has become increasingly hostile to trans youth seeking medical care. By mid-2025, 27 states had enacted bans on best practice care for transgender minors, many facing legal challenges. These restrictions, pushed largely by Republican lawmakers, are widely viewed as part of an ideologically driven political campaign rather than evidence-based medicine.
In Kansas, the “Help Not Harm Act” became law earlier this year, outlawing gender-affirming care for minors and requiring those already undergoing treatment to stop by year’s end. Federally, Donald Trump’s January 28, 2025 executive order labeled gender-affirming care as “chemical and surgical mutilation,” directing agencies to withdraw support for minors’ treatment, although litigation and court orders have slowed its impact.
The Supreme Court has also weighed in. In United States v. Skrmetti, decided June 18, 2025, the Court upheld a Tennessee ban on gender-affirming care for minors, ruling that such laws do not constitute sex discrimination under the 14th Amendment.
In Alaska, Pittman notes how these policies spark fear among medical professionals. “There’s been a chill… Many providers have stepped away… out of fear of attacks like what the medical board is attempting right now.”
The Bottom Line
The Alaska Medical Board’s upcoming vote is not about public health. It is political theater aimed at marginalizing a vulnerable group. By targeting fewer than 100 transgender youths across the state, Republican-appointed officials are using regulation not for care, but for coercion. Without shield laws or stronger protections, Alaska’s trans youth may soon find their access to essential healthcare hanging in the balance.
