The Biden administration says it will encourage youths to pursue all forms of gender-affirmation care in their respective states, including sex-reassignment surgery.

In a recent interview with MSNBC, Dr. Rachel Levine, the assistant secretary for health at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) and the first openly transgender federal official in a Senate-confirmed role, said transgender youths should follow their hearts with gender-affirming treatments, even in states where such procedures are prohibited.