Amid a flurry of executive orders affecting transgender Americans, the Trump administration ordered restrictions on gender-affirming care for minors. Calling it “a stain on our Nation’s history,” the Jan. 28, 2025, order seeks to “end” this form of treatment for Americans under 19 years old.
The Conversation U.S. interviewed Elana Redfield, federal policy director at the Williams Institute, an independent research center at the UCLA School of Law dedicated to studying sexual orientation and gender identity law. She describes the aims of the executive order, how much weight it carries, and how it should be understood in the broader context of legal battles over access to gender-affirming care.
What’s the scope of the executive order?
Twenty-six states have already restricted gender-affirming care for minors or banned it outright. So the order seeks to extend restrictions to the rest of the country using the weight of the executive branch.
However, it’s not a national ban on gender-affirming care for minors. Instead, it’s directing federal agencies to regulate and restrict this form of care.
That being said, federal agencies have a tremendous impact on American life. Trans kids rely on publicly funded health insurance programs such as Medicaid and TRICARE, which is administered to the children of active duty service members via the Department of Defense. And a big part of the executive order is directing the federal agencies that administer these programs to review their own policies to ensure that they are not supporting gender-affirming care for minors.
So what we’re really seeing is the federal government trying to erect barriers to kids accessing this care.
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Does the executive branch have the authority to unilaterally ban federal funding of certain medical treatments?
The answer is a little mixed. A president might be able to suspend or put a temporary pause on funding a particular type of treatment or service. But the actual parameters of a program – and how agencies should implement them – are determined by Congress and, to some extent, by the courts.
Ultimately, the president can only take actions in ways that are designated by the Constitution, or through some specific power that Congress has granted to the executive branch. I don’t see that authority granted for a lot of what’s contained in this executive order. But many of these directives will probably be litigated in court, where the president will likely argue that he has the power to direct agencies to do all they can to put a halt to gender-affirming care for minors.
Do private health insurers fall outside the scope of this executive order?
On the surface, yes. But it’s easy to see how directives from the executive branch can touch broader components of the country’s health care system, including private hospitals and private health insurance.
For example, Section 1557 of the Affordable Care Act is a nondiscrimination provision. It says there can be no sex discrimination when it comes to approving health care treatments. This has been interpreted to mean that health insurance plans receiving federal funding cannot deny a policyholder gender-affirming care. However, this interpretation has been blocked by a federal court.
The question of whether this definition of sex discrimination encompasses gender identity is currently playing out in the courts. For example, there’s a pending U.S. Supreme Court decision regarding a Tennessee law banning gender-affirming care for minors. Should the Supreme Court determine that Tennessee is able to ban gender-affirming care for minors, it’s possible to see how this could impact private health insurance coverage for gender-affirming care.
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Transgender rights supporters and opponents rally outside of the U.S. Supreme Court as the high court hears arguments in a case about Tennessee’s law banning gender-affirming care for minors on Dec. 4, 2024. Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images
What else stood out to you from the executive order?
The executive order directs the Department of Justice to discourage doctors and hospitals from administering gender-affirming care to minors, characterizing it as genital mutilation, which is a heinous-sounding offense. Even though this is an inaccurate comparison, it could have a chilling effect even in states where this form of care is legal.
The order also contains a provision that asks Congress to extend the statute of limitations for gender-affirming care, so that someone who received gender-affirming care as a minor and decides they’re not happy with it decades later can sue their doctor. Some states have already extended the statute of limitations to 30 years for gender-affirming care.
Again, this could have a chilling effect in states where the care is legal. What doctor or hospital would want to expose themselves to this risk?
Of course, these two elements constitute directives from the executive branch, but we don’t know how they’ll be enforced. They do reveal, however, some of the ways in which the administration plans to direct its efforts.
Before Roe v. Wade was overturned, federal funding of elective abortion had been restricted for decades under the Hyde Amendment. You can’t receive coverage for an abortion under a Medicaid plan, for example. Do you see this executive order as Trump trying to simply enact – via fiat, of course – his own version of the Hyde Amendment, but instead applied to gender-affirming care for minors?
I think there’s a key difference between the two. The Hyde Amendment, which has been repeatedly reenacted by Congress, prohibits federal funding of abortion care, but it doesn’t prohibit states from allowing or permitting abortion. It’s always operated as a sort of compromise: It says providers can’t use federal funding for an abortion, but they can use their own funding to administer abortions – and oh, by the way, they can still receive federal funding for other health services.
This executive order, on the other hand, takes a much more uncompromising position: It tells agency heads to stop directing any and all federal funds to institutions that research or provide gender-affirming care.
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Again, it’s important to remember that executive orders aren’t established policy. They’re simply directing agencies to craft certain policies and encouraging lawmakers to enact legislation.
So far, much of the legislation restricting gender-affirming care – whether it’s at the state level or in the executive branch – has centered on minors, or individuals under 19. Are there any threats to gender-affirming care for adults?
Only one state, Florida, has enacted a law that specifically regulates gender-affirming care for adults. That law basically sets some compliance standards and restricts who can prescribe the care. Florida also banned the use of state funds for gender-affirming care for everyone, adults and children. So that means, for example, those who are incarcerated in state prisons can’t receive gender-affirming care.
Florida isn’t the only state that has enacted a state funding ban. Depending on your insurance, this could mean you’re forced to pay out of pocket for your procedures and treatment, which can be prohibitively expensive.
What are you going to be watching for in the coming weeks?
I’m sure someone’s going to sue to challenge the order. The problem, though, is that an executive order is an expression of policy ideas. You need something to actually happen before lawyers and activists can react to it. So I’ll be tracking federal agencies to see how they specifically try to enact some of these directives.
Is there anything else you’d like to add?
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This executive order contains language that characterizes the science around gender-affirming care as junk science. It’s repeatedly described as chemical and surgical mutilation, or as maiming and sterilizing kids. There’s talk of rapid-onset gender dysphoria, which has been discredited.
One of two main craters on Alaska’s Mount Spurr, shown in 1991. Earthquake activity suggests the volcano is close to erupting again in 2025.
R.G. McGimsey/Alaska Volcano Observatory/U.S. Geological Survey, CC BYDavid Kitchen, University of Richmond
Volcanoes inspire awe with spectacular eruptions and incandescent rivers of lava, but often their deadliest hazard is what quietly falls from the sky.
When a large volcano erupts, as Mount Spurr appears close to doing about 80 miles from Anchorage, Alaska, it can release enormous volumes of ash. Fine ash can infiltrate the lungs of people and animals who breathe it in, poison crops and disrupt aquatic life. Thick deposits of ash can collapse roofs, cripple utilities and disrupt transport networks.
Ash may lack the visual impact of flowing lava, but as a geologist who studies disasters, I’m aware that ash travels farther, lasts longer and leaves deep scars.
Ash buried cars and buildings after the 1984 eruption of Rabaul in Papua New Guinea.Volcano Hazards Program, U.S. Geological Survey
Volcanic ash: What it is, and why it matters
Volcanic ash forms when viscous magma – molten rock from deep beneath Earth’s surface – erupts, exploding into shards of rock, mineral and glass carried in a near-supersonic stream of hot gas.
Towering clouds of ash rise several miles into the atmosphere, where the ash is captured by high-altitude winds that can carry it hundreds or even thousands of miles.
As the volcanic ash settles back to Earth, it accumulates in layers that typically decrease in thickness with distance from the eruption source. Near the vent, the ash may be several feet deep, but communities farther away may see only a dusting.
When Mount Spurr erupted in 1992, a dark column of ash and gas shot into the atmosphere from the volcano’s Crater Peak vent. Wind patterns determine where the ash will fall.U.S. Geological Survey
Breathing danger: Health risks from ash
Breathing volcanic ash can irritate the throat and lungs, trigger asthma attacks and aggravate chronic respiratory conditions such as COPD.
The finest particles pose the greatest risk because they can penetrate deep into the lungs and cause death by asphyxiation in the worst cases. Mild, short-term symptoms often resolve with rest. However, the long-term consequences of ash exposure can include silicosis, a lung disease and a possible cause of cancer.
The danger increases in dry regions where fallen ash can be kicked up into the air again by wind or human activity.
Risks to pets and livestock
Humans aren’t the only ones at risk. Animals experience similar respiratory symptoms to humans.
Domestic pets can develop respiratory distress, eye inflammation and paw irritation from exposure to ash.
Ash covers sheep in Argentina after the 2011 Puyehue volcanic eruption in Chile.Federico Grosso/U.S. Geological Survey
Livestock face greater dangers. If grazing animals eat volcanic ash, it can damage their teeth, block their intestines and poison them.
During the 2010 Eyjafjallajökull eruption in Iceland, farmers were advised to shelter sheep and cattle because the ash contained fluoride concentrations above the recognized safety threshold of 400 parts per million. Animals that remained exposed became sick and some died.
Harm to crops, soil and water
Soil and crops can also be damaged. Volcanic ash alters the acidity of soil and introduces harmful elements such as arsenic and sulfur into the environment.
While the ash can add nutrients such as potassium and phosphorus that enhance fertility, the immediate impact is mostly harmful.
Ash can smother crops, block sunlight and clog the tiny stomata, or pores, in leaves that allow plants to exchange gases with the atmosphere. It can also introduce toxins that render food unmarketable. Vegetables, fruit trees and vines are particularly vulnerable, but even sturdy cereals and grasses can die if ash remains on leaves or poisons emerging shoots.
Following the 1991 Mount Pinatubo eruption, vast tracts of farmland in central Luzon in the Philippines were rendered unproductive for years due to acidic ash and buried topsoil. If multiple ashfalls occur in a growing season, crop failure becomes a near certainty. It was the cause of a historic famine that followed the eruption of Mount Tambora in 1815.
Ash from a 1953 eruption of Mount Spurr included very fine grains, like powder. The ash cloud reached about 70,000 feet high and left Anchorage under a blanket of ash up to a quarter-inch deep, according to a U.S. Geological Survey report at the time.James St. John via Wikimedia Commons, CC BYElectron microscope images of ash show how sharp the shards are. The top left image of shards from Mount Etna in 2002 is 1 mm across. Top right is an ash particle from Mount St. Helens magnified 200 times. The shards in the lower images are less than 0.064 mm.Volcano Hazards Program, U.S. Geological Survey
Ash can also contaminate surface water by introducing toxins and increasing the water’s acidity. The toxins can leach into groundwater, contaminating wells. Fine ash particles can also settle in waterways and smother aquatic plants and animals. During the 2008 Chaitén eruption in Chile, ash contamination led to widespread fish deaths in the Río Blanco.
Ash can ground airplanes, gum up infrastructure
Ash clouds are extremely dangerous to aircraft. The glassy ash particles melt when sucked into jet turbines, clog fuel systems and can stall engines in midair.
In 1982, British Airways Flight 9 lost power in all four engines after flying through an ash cloud. A similar incident occurred in 1989 to KLM Flight 867 over Alaska. In 2010, Iceland’s Eyjafjallajökull eruption grounded more than 100,000 flights across Europe, disrupting travel for over 10 million passengers and costing the global economy billions of dollars.
Volcanic ash can also wreak havoc on infrastructure by clogging water supplies, short-circuiting electrical systems and collapsing roofs under its weight. It can disrupt transportation, communication, rescue and power networks, as the 1991 eruption of Mount Pinatubo in the Philippines dramatically demonstrated.
What to do during ashfall
During an ashfall event, the most effective strategy to stay safe is to stay indoors as much as possible and avoid inhaling ash particles.
Anyone who must go outside should wear a properly fitted N95 or P2 mask. Cloth masks provide little protection against fine ash. Rainwater tanks, troughs and open wells should be covered and monitored for contamination. Livestock should be moved to clean pastures or given uncontaminated fodder.
The challenges Alaska is facing if Mount Spurr erupts.
To reduce structural damage, ash should be cleared from roofs and gutters promptly, especially before rainfall.
Older adults, children and people who are sick are at greatest risk, particularly those living in poorly ventilated homes. Rural communities that are dependent on agriculture and livestock are disproportionately affected by ashfall, as are low-income people who lack access to clean water, protective masks or safe shelter.
Communities can stay informed about ash risks through official alerts, including those from the Volcanic Ash Advisory Centers, which monitor ash dispersion and issue timely warnings. The International Volcanic Health Hazard Network also offers guidelines on personal protection, emergency planning and ash cleanup.
The long tail of ash
Volcanic ash may fall quietly, but its effects are widespread, persistent and potentially deadly. It poses a chronic threat to health, agriculture, infrastructure and aquatic systems.
Recognizing the risk is a crucial first step to protecting lives. Effective planning and public awareness can further help reduce the damage.
David Kitchen, Associate Professor of Geology, University of Richmond
This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.
In a groundbreaking achievement for space tourism, Blue Origin successfully completed its 31st mission with the New Shepard rocket, marking a significant milestone in human spaceflight. This latest journey not only added another chapter to the annals of space exploration but also carried an inspiring and trailblazing crew that is sure to leave a lasting impact on humanity’s journey to the stars.
A Stellar Crew of Trailblazers
On this momentous flight, Blue Origin had the honor of launching an extraordinary crew comprised entirely of trailblazing women: Aisha Bowe, Amanda Nguyễn, Gayle King, Katy Perry, Kerianne Flynn, and Lauren Sánchez. Each of these remarkable individuals brings a wealth of experience and influence, and together, they ventured beyond the confines of our planet, reaching heights that had once only been dreams for many.
Phil Joyce, Senior Vice President of New Shepard, expressed profound admiration for the crew, stating, “What a privilege to witness this crew of trailblazers depart the capsule today. Each of these women is a storyteller who will use their voices—individually and together—to channel their life-changing experience today into creating lasting impact that will inspire people across our planet for generations.” It’s clear that this mission was more than just a flight; it was a symbol of hope and inspiration for future generations of explorers and dreamers.
A Milestone for New Shepard
With this successful mission, New Shepard has now flown 58 people to the edge of space, with four individuals having embarked on this extraordinary journey twice. The rocket’s reliability and safety continue to bolster confidence in commercial space travel, encouraging a new wave of adventurers eager to experience the thrill of weightlessness and the breathtaking views of Earth from above.
In addition to exhilarating experiences, Blue Origin’s missions contribute to the growing narrative of inclusivity and diversity in space exploration. By prioritizing representation within its astronaut crews, Blue Origin is actively reshaping how we view space travel, fostering a community that is open to all.
Join the Adventure
If you missed this awe-inspiring flight, don’t worry! You can watch the full replay of the mission below and relive the magic of this transformative journey. Additionally, those looking to be a part of future missions can sign up to fly on an upcoming New Shepard adventure. The chance to soar into the cosmos awaits you!
For space enthusiasts and supporters, commemorative merchandise from this mission is available for purchase at the Blue Origin Shop. Celebrate this historic achievement and bring a piece of the cosmos into your life.
Looking Ahead
As we continue to push boundaries and explore the mysteries of outer space, missions like these remind us of the potential that lies within each of us. Blue Origin’s commitment to expanding access to space is not just about reaching new heights; it’s about empowering individuals to share their stories, inspire change, and dream bigger than ever before. The future of space exploration is bright, and we can’t wait to see where this new era takes us!
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So gear up, dreamers, adventurers, and future astronauts—the stars are closer than ever!
The science section of our news blog STM Daily News provides readers with captivating and up-to-date information on the latest scientific discoveries, breakthroughs, and innovations across various fields. We offer engaging and accessible content, ensuring that readers with different levels of scientific knowledge can stay informed. Whether it’s exploring advancements in medicine, astronomy, technology, or environmental sciences, our science section strives to shed light on the intriguing world of scientific exploration and its profound impact on our daily lives. From thought-provoking articles to informative interviews with experts in the field, STM Daily News Science offers a harmonious blend of factual reporting, analysis, and exploration, making it a go-to source for science enthusiasts and curious minds alike. https://stmdailynews.com/category/science/
Unmasking the Deception: The $300 Million Fraud Case Surrounding Arizona Athletic Grounds
Randy and Chad Miller face serious fraud charges after allegedly defrauding investors out of $300 million in their failed sports complex, revealing a cautionary tale for investors.
A huge sports facility illuminated by the light of sunset. Created by AI
In a tale that intertwines ambition with deceit, the shocking story of Randy and Chad Miller, the father-son duo behind what was once touted as the largest sports and entertainment complex in the United States, has taken a dark turn. Opening the sprawling Bell Bank Park—which boasts an impressive 194 fields and courts—in East Mesa just three years ago, the Millers had big dreams. But now, they find themselves embroiled in a federal indictment that claims they defrauded investors out of nearly $300 million.
A Grand Vision Becomes a Nightmare
The original vision for the sports complex, which has since been rebranded as Arizona Athletic Grounds, was ambitious. Randy Miller, the mastermind behind the project, had long dreamed of creating a hub for sports and entertainment that would attract families, athletes, and fans from across the nation. After years of planning and investment, the facility finally opened its doors, seemingly fulfilling a lifelong dream.
However, dreams of grandeur have turned into a nightmare, as the Millers face serious allegations of using the facility as a front for an elaborate fraud scheme. With the company declaring bankruptcy in 2023—reporting debts of a staggering $366 million—investors and stakeholders are left reeling.
The Allegations: A Web of Fraud and Deceit
According to the federal indictment, Randy and Chad Miller allegedly enriched themselves at the expense of investors, using funds raised from municipal bonds for personal luxuries rather than for the intended purpose of constructing and operating the sports complex. The FBI claims they employed fraudulent documents and misrepresented the financial viability of the project to lure in unsuspecting investors.
From lavish purchases of luxury vehicles to alleged misappropriation of funds for personal expenses, their actions paint a picture of greed and entitlement. Not only did the Millers reportedly pay themselves significantly beyond disclosed salaries, but they also misled investors with false financial projections and forged documentation purporting to show interest from customers.
A Cautionary Tale for Investors
This case serves as a cautionary tale about the complexities of investing in large-scale projects. The Millers poured their aspirations into the Arizona Athletic Grounds but masked disappointing financial realities with misleading projections and falsified documents. The initial feasibility study performed in 2016 indicated the project would generate significantly lower revenues than anticipated—a warning sign that went ignored in pursuit of ambition.
In a staggering twist, the project opened to a far cry from its projected success, generating less than $28 million in its first year compared to the nearly $96 million touted to investors. With bankruptcy filings showing that investors recouped a paltry sum of less than $2.5 million from their $284 million investment, many are left to ponder how their trust could be so easily manipulated.
Legal Ramifications and Future Implications
As the case unfolds, Randy and Chad Miller are facing severe legal consequences, including charges for wire fraud, securities fraud, and aggravated identity theft. If convicted, they could spend decades in prison, a sobering reality for the once-celebrated entrepreneurs. The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission is also pursuing parallel action, further complicating matters for the Millers.
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This incident not only reflects the pitfalls that entrepreneurs can face but also highlights the responsibilities of investors to conduct thorough due diligence before committing funds to any venture. The tale of the Millers serves as a stark reminder of the importance of integrity, transparency, and community trust in business practices.
Conclusion
As this saga continues to unfold, the story of the Arizona Athletic Grounds serves as a reflection on ambition gone awry. It’s a stark reminder that behind every grand vision lies the essential need for honesty and ethical conduct. The community of East Mesa, once hopeful for a thriving sports destination, now faces the challenge of moving forward, learning from the past, and rebuilding trust in local business ventures. We can only hope that the lessons from this cautionary tale resonate not just within the realm of sports and entertainment but across all industries that forge the backbone of our economy.
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