Latest news and developments in the mission to protect children from gender ideology:
Federal Investigation Opens Into School at Center of Kutzko Parental Rights Case: The U.S. Department of Education is investigating whether the Northborough-Southborough school district violated federal parental-rights and student-records laws after the Kutzko family alleged that school officials facilitated social interventions on their daughter without their knowledge.
Biden-Era Plan Sought to Embed Sex-Rejecting Policies in Child Welfare System: A Daily Wire investigation reports that the Biden administration developed a multi-year strategy to expand sex-rejecting policies throughout the child-welfare system, an approach the current administration has since begun reversing.
Oregon Mother Wins Foster Care Adoption Case Over Gender Ideology Requirements: Oregon agreed to allow Christian mother Jessica Bates to pursue foster-care adoption without requiring her to affirm beliefs or facilitate interventions related to gender ideology that conflict with her religious convictions.
DOJ Secures Agreements Ending Pediatric Sex-Rejecting Procedures at NYU and UPMC: The Justice Department reached agreements requiring NYU Langone and UPMC to stop providing puberty blockers, cross-sex hormones, and sex-rejecting surgeries to minors while paying a combined $9.45 million to resolve federal allegations, with both systems denying liability.
Federal Investigation Opens Into School at Center of Kutzko Parental Rights Case
The Kutzko family is fighting Massachusetts officials over the custody and medical treatment of their 17-year-old daughter, Sophie, after her school began social interventions on their daughter without her parents’ knowledge. Massachusetts’ Department of Children and Families later removed her from their home. A judge has temporarily blocked the administration of testosterone.
In the latest development, the U.S. Department of Education has opened a formal investigation into the Northborough-Southborough school district over possible violations of federal parental-rights and student-records laws related to the school’s actions.
Dr. Michelle Cretella, Adolescent Health Council Co-Chair of the American College of Pediatricians (ACPeds) responded:
“Parents need to know this is not happening only in Massachusetts. Staff at most public schools across the country, even in conservative states, do not support parental rights when it comes to sex-rejecting interventions. This is because the two teacher unions in the United States, the National Education Association and the American Federation of Teachers, espouse gender-ideological views and support providing social interventions without parental knowledge.”
Biden-Era Plan Sought to Embed Sex-Rejecting Policies in Child Welfare System
A Daily Wire investigation reports that the Biden administration developed a five-year strategy to embed sex-rejecting policies throughout the nation’s child-welfare system, including efforts involving foster care, family engagement, and the treatment of children experiencing sex-identity distress.
Dr. Michelle Cretella of ACPeds says the current HHS has changed course, but cautions that lasting reform will require addressing these policies and their effects throughout the child-welfare system so they do not return under a future administration.
Oregon Mother Wins Foster Care Adoption Case Over Gender Ideology Requirements
Oregon has agreed to a permanent court order in Bates v. Wendt, allowing Jessica Bates, a Christian mother of five, to seek to adopt from foster care without being required to affirm beliefs about gender ideology that conflict with her religious convictions.
The settlement follows a 2025 Ninth Circuit ruling that Bates was likely to succeed on her First Amendment claims after Oregon had denied her adoption application because she would not agree to requirements including using pronouns contrary to a child’s sex, participating in Pride events, or facilitating access to puberty blockers or hormone treatments.
DOJ Secures Agreements Ending Pediatric Sex-Rejecting Procedures at NYU and UPMC
The U.S. Department of Justice has reached agreements with NYU Langone and UPMC requiring both health systems to stop providing puberty blockers, cross-sex hormones, and sex-rejecting surgeries to minors, resolving federal investigations into potential violations of federal law. NYU will pay $8.5 million and UPMC $950,000 as part of the agreements, while DOJ says its nationwide investigations of other providers remain ongoing; both health systems deny the allegations, and no liability was determined.
