AMA says ‘no medically valid reason’ for Trump’s ban on transgender people in military

The country’s largest medical organization on Wednesday responded to President Trump’s decision to prevent transgender individuals from serving in the military by saying “there is no medically valid reason” for the ban.

“Transgender individuals are serving their country with honor, and they should be allowed to continue doing so,” the American Medical Association (AMA) said in a statement.

Trump announced the ban in a series of tweets Wednesday morning.

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“Our military must be focused on decisive and overwhelming victory and cannot be burdened with the tremendous medical costs and disruption that transgender in the military would entail,” he wrote.

The AMA also took aim at the president’s tweets on the financial cost of allowing transgender people to serve. The statement cited a 2016 RAND study that found the financial burden of transgender individuals in the military is “a rounding error in the defense budget and should not be used as an excuse to deny patriotic Americans an opportunity to serve their country.” 

AMA policy “also supports public and private health insurance coverage for treatment of gender dysphoria as recommended by the patient’s physician,” according to the organization.

The AMA has regularly weighed in on legislation that impacts transgender individuals’ rights, including the so-called “bathroom bills” in Texas and North Carolina. 

“We should be honoring their service, not trying to end it,” the statement concluded.