US bars removal of children from parents who reject gender transition

A meeting of the U.S. Administration for Children and Families. Photo: ACF Facebook

On March 3, 2026, the Administration for Children and Families (ACF), part of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, sent letters to authorities in all 50 states prohibiting the removal of children from families solely because parents do not affirm a child’s claimed gender identity.

The agency stressed that attempts to classify refusal to support a “gender transition” as child abuse violate the U.S. Constitution and the right to free exercise of religion. Any decision to separate a child from his or her family, it said, must be based on objective evidence of real danger or abuse, not on the ideological preferences of public officials. According to the ACF assistant secretary, the right of parents to raise their children in keeping with their sincerely held moral and religious beliefs is fundamental.

Federal authorities took the step following reports that in some parts of the country children had been separated from parents who opposed medical interventions related to gender transition. The agency said it now intends to closely monitor how states use federal funding, ensuring that it is spent lawfully and not used to justify unwarranted interference in family life or the undermining of traditional values.

Earlier, the UOJ reported that the European Parliament had hosted a lesson on gender identity for schoolchildren.

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