Executive order protects gender-affirming care providers and patients
Gov. Matt Meyer signed an executive order June 20, adding further protections for gender-affirming care providers and patients.
“Across the country, people are being punished for seeking or providing gender-affirming care,” said Meyer. “In Delaware, we cherish privacy, dignity and the right to make personal medical decisions. Everyone deserves the freedom to access healthcare rooted in science and compassion.”
Executive Order 11 makes Delaware the latest state to establish itself as a legal refuge for individuals seeking and providing gender-affirming care, with the order explicitly protecting the information of both patients and providers.
The order makes Delaware a shield state for providers, prohibiting state agencies from cooperating with investigations, subpoenas or legal actions initiated in other states against individuals or providers involved in gender-affirming care that is legal in Delaware. It also bars professional licensing boards in Delaware from penalizing providers solely for delivering such care.
The signing was held at CAMP Rehoboth with the Delaware LGBTQ+ Commission, lawmakers and advocates in attendance, including Rep. DeShanna Neal, D-Elsmere, who has previously introduced legislation to enact similar protections.
“I want to thank Gov. Meyer for his actions today and helping me keep a 20-year promise to my daughter and all the families that this fight has helped,” said Neal.
The order mirrors protective laws passed in at least 14 other states and Washington, D.C., designed to insulate providers and patients from hostile laws originating in states where gender-affirming care is restricted or criminalized.
“Transgender Delawareans and those traveling here for care can now breathe a little easier,” said Cora Castle, chair of the Delaware LGBTQ+ Commission. “This executive order reflects what science and medical experts have made clear for years: gender-affirming care is lifesaving. It also shows what happens when people with lived experience are trusted to help shape policy – we lead with both empathy and evidence. Delaware is proving what it means to protect all its people.”
“I’m proud to see our state taking a bold and necessary step to protect gender-affirming care here in Delaware,” said Vienna Cavazos, vice chair of the Delaware LGBTQ+ Commission. “Delaware is sending a clear message – our state will not be complicit in the criminalization of trans lives. Trans youth deserve care, dignity and the right to exist safely, and today, Delaware affirms that.”
