On April 14, 2025, the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) announced that it was taking action to “protect whistleblowers who defend children.”
In response to President Trump’s executive order titled “Protecting Children from Chemical and Surgical Mutilation,” HHS (in consultation with the Attorney General) published new guidance for “whistleblowers on the chemical and surgical mutilation of children.”
The guidance discusses how whistleblowers can disclose information consistent with the privacy requirements for protected health information of the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 (HIPAA). It also addresses the scope of whistleblower protections, including protection from retaliation and protections granted under HIPAA, the National Defense Authorization Act of 2013, the False Claims Act, and the Church Amendments.
The guidance explains that the Church Amendments (one of the over two dozen federal conscience protection laws) “protect employees from discrimination if, based on religious beliefs or moral convictions, they refuse to participate in child-mutilation procedures—including the use of puberty-blockers or cross-sex hormones—and/or raise an objection to a supervisor about participating in such procedures.” As the guidance notes, subsection (c) of the Church Amendments applies to any “lawful sterilization procedure” and subsection (d) applies to any “procedure[] to which an individual has religious or moral objections.”
HHS also announced that it has initiated an investigation into whether “a major pediatric teaching hospital” violated the Church Amendments when it fired a whistleblower nurse who requested a religious accommodation from administering puberty blockers and cross-sex hormones to children—procedures she opposed due to her religious beliefs about their sterilization effects.
During the Biden administration, HHS under then-Secretary Xavier Becerra failed to enforce conscience protections, including under the Church Amendments. In contrast, within days of Trump’s inauguration, then-Acting HHS Secretary Dr. Dorothy Fink issued a statement announcing that strengthening enforcement of conscience and religious exercise protections is “a priority of the Department.” This priority was reiterated in the April 14 announcement by Acting HHS Office for Civil Rights Director Anthony Archeval, who stated: “The Department will robustly enforce Federal laws protecting these courageous whistleblowers, including laws that protect health care professionals from being forced to violate their religious beliefs or moral convictions.”
To this end, HHS launched a new online portal where whistleblowers can submit a tip or complaint “regarding the chemical and surgical mutilation of children” to the HHS Office of Inspector General. These tips and complaints can include any “fraud, abuse, or misconduct related to Medicare, Medicaid, or other HHS programs.” This portal supplements HHS’s existing complaint portal for violations of federal civil rights laws, conscience and religious freedom laws, and HIPAA privacy, security, and safety rules.
