Addressing Moral Distress Among Gender-Affirming Healthcare Professionals.

Abstract

Escalating federal and state policy actions have systematically targeted transgender and gender-diverse individuals, aiming to restrict access to gender-affirming care, particularly for youth. These measures, accompanied by legal and financial threats against providers and institutions, have undermined healthcare professionals' ability to deliver this care. As a result, gender-affirming healthcare professionals are experiencing significant moral distress: the psychological conflict arising when clinicians know what they ought to do morally but are prevented from doing so by external constraints. Drawing on parallels in abortion care post-Dobbs, this perspective examines how moral distress, safety concerns, and legal threats contribute to worsened well-being, increased stress, and heightened risk of burnout among providers, all of which jeopardize patient care. This piece then provides a multi-level framework of strategies to mitigate moral distress and concludes by underscoring the need to protect the rights of both patients and providers as essential to preserving access to gender-affirming care.