'DEFUND 250': Planned Parenthood endangers clients with easy access to cross-sex hormones

On July 4, 2026, America will celebrate the 250th anniversary of her founding — but unless Congress votes to continue banning federal Medicaid dollars from abortion businesses like Planned Parenthood, July 4 will also be the day that America's most prolific killer of preborn children will see those taxpayer dollars once again pouring into its bank accounts.

Planned Parenthood deserves to be permanently defunded — and Live Action News' series, 'DEFUND 250,' serves to remind the public of many reasons why.

Though Planned Parenthood is best known as the nation’s leading abortion business, committing abortions isn’t all it does; Planned Parenthood has also been branching out into so-called “gender-affirming care,” peddling cross-sex hormones and surgery referrals — in some cases, even for minors. Numerous stories reveal that Planned Parenthood affiliates across the country are routinely offering these life-altering drugs — even to teens — sometimes in as little as just one phone call or visit.

Key Takeaways:

• Planned Parenthood has been found to offer cross-sex hormones, even to minors, in just one phone call or visit.

• Its victims detail Planned Parenthood prescribing the life-altering drugs without requiring any tests or therapy.

• Some are now speaking out about the lack of informed consent and all-too-easy access to life-altering drugs.

The Details:

#1 Undercover calls reveal Planned Parenthood willing to give hormones to minors ‘same day’

In 2025, an undercover journalist posing as a 16-year-old female called Planned Parenthood facilities offering ‘transgender services’ in eight one-party consent states/territories —Minnesota, Oregon, Maine, New York, New Jersey, New Mexico, Colorado, and Washington, D.C.

Staff at seven of the 33 locations confirmed that they would offer cross-sex hormones at the first appointment — even virtually. At five of the locations, the caller was told she didn't need any type of therapy, mental health clearance, or documentation of a mental health assessment before receiving hormones.

The fact that the caller posed as a minor did not seem problematic.

Planned Parenthood Gave Her Testosterone at 16 — Paid For With Your Tax Dollars

#2 A 30-minute call was all it took for her to get hormones

Cat Cattinson had suffered from mental health issues; in addition to being autistic, she had suffered eating disorders and suicidal ideation, and had a history of trauma. Yet when she called Planned Parenthood and told staff there she wanted to be a male, none of those factors were taken into account. Instead, she was approved for testosterone shots after just one 30-minute phone call.

“It was so easy to get testosterone — they didn’t require any tests or therapy. I was surprised at how quickly they gave it to me,” she later said. 

#3 Autistic teen reportedly got cross-sex hormones from Planned Parenthood ‘in little over 30 minutes’

Fred was an autistic teen from New Jersey who announced in 2022 that he was transgender. When his parents were out of town, he traveled to the local Planned Parenthood and that same morning was given a prescription for estrogen. His parents later filed a complaint with New Jersey’s nursing and medical boards.  

“Instead of a months-long evaluation by expert psychiatrists, a nurse practitioner had, in little over 30 minutes, prescribed their special-needs son a powerful drug without their knowledge or consent,” explained the  Washington Free Beacon, which reported the story.

#4 Staff put teen’s ‘life in serious danger’ with cross-sex hormones

Helena Kerschner is a detransitioner who now actively speaks out about the so-called "care" she received at Planned Parenthood.

A few weeks after her 18th birthday, she visited Planned Parenthood after a combination of anxiety, social media, and a history of family issues had her convinced she needed testosterone.

She recalled:

"The appointment took about one hour and none of the clinicians I saw were interested in what was behind my desperation to change my body. They told me that because I seemed 'so sure,' they would forgo doing blood tests and prescribe the hormones that day. I told the clinicians that I wanted a high dose, because I wanted to see more changes in my body. They agreed, and prescribed me 100mg of testosterone per week."

That high dose was reportedly four times the typical starting dose of testosterone, and it was given to Kerschner by a nurse practitioner in less than an hour, without ever seeing a doctor. The drugs had lasting effects, sending her mental health spiraling.

#5 Spending 30 minutes at Planned Parenthood changed her forever. Now, she’s suing.

Cristina Hineman visited Planned Parenthood weeks after turning 18 — and walked away with a testosterone prescription after an appointment lasting less than 30 minutes.

“I had heard online about Planned Parenthood as a provider which will just give you hormones if you want them, and doesn’t do any kind of gatekeeping,” Hineman later explained.

As a teen, she experienced mental health struggles, including depression, anxiety, and suicidal ideation; however, Planned Parenthood took none of those into account, reportedly diagnosing her with a gender identity disorder without a mental health evaluation and without even looking at her mental health or medical records.

Hineman later filed a lawsuit against the organization, noting that what it offered her wasn't care:

Diagnosing a patient with gender identity disorder and providing a prescription for cross-sex hormones to treat gender identity disorder or gender dysphoria after a single, thirty-minute meeting where no mental health evaluation or assessment was performed and where no attempt was made to resolve myriad mental health comorbidities are appalling breaches of the standard of care.

#6 ‘Word on the street’ leads teens to Planned Parenthood for ‘easy’ hormone access

Journalist Jennifer Block — who identifies as firmly pro-abortion — investigated Planned Parenthood's testosterone distribution.

“I had heard through several sources that Planned Parenthood was known, kind of on the street, among young people as a place to go if you’re a teen… you can walk in and out with hormones — that was kind of the word on the street,” Block explained.

Her investigation confirmed this, as she called Planned Parenthood “the largest single provider of cross-sex hormones for young people under the age of 28.”

Those findings were surprising to Planned Parenthood donors and supporters, including one former Planned Parenthood exec who shocked to realize that the corporation’s guidelines allowed young people cross-sex hormone prescriptions after single, 30-minute conversations.

“If people are not fully informed and prepared, she said, it could be a nightmare,” Block recalled.

#7 Woman says Planned Parenthood doctor recommended transgender surgery without meeting her

A woman named Ryan detailed her experience while on the Dr. Phil show, as she said she received no counseling from Planned Parenthood prior to receiving cross-sex hormones as a teen.

“The biggest mistake I made was that I did not get the right amount of therapy or medical advice needed,” Ryan told Dr. Phil. “Before I went on hormone therapy, I wasn’t required to see any therapist or any sort of a doctor at all.”

She said Planned Parenthood also gave her a letter referring her for "top surgery," in which the female breasts are removed, after only a 45-minute phone call.

#8 ‘Ruined’: Reddit users regret how easily they got hormones from Planned Parenthood

Though only a handful of people have gone public about their negative Planned Parenthood experiences, one Reddit thread reveals that there are far more who have been impacted after receiving hormones at the organization.

A Reddit user asked if others had obtained hormones through Planned Parenthood and felt “they were not truly warned about the negative effects of transitioning.” Comments on the thread were revealing.

One responder said their "physical and mental health was ruined," while another said it was "a horrible experience."

One response noted:

...the biggest beef for me was their painfully lacking ‘psych eval’ type few questions less than an hour before slapping the prescription into my hands. Questions that I definitely answered the ‘wrong’ aka of greater concern answers to like: do you have a history of mental illness? Suicidal thoughts/actions? Family abuse? Drug or alcohol abuse?

These questions are not verbatim obviously but my answers were all major yes’s, so I just don’t understand how my demonstration of a complete lack of mental stability kept me an eligible candidate.

#9 Co-founder of first US pediatric gender clinic hints Planned Parenthood is off the rails

Even those within the industry are warning that Planned Parenthood is taking its "gender affirming" practice too far. Laura Edwards-Leeper, who co-founded the nation’s first pediatric gender clinic and helped to develop transgender advocacy group WPATH’s standards, told the Wall Street Journal that Planned Parenthood was operating "beyond the scope of practice."

In responding to reports of how quickly and easily Planned Parenthood was giving out cross-sex hormones, she said, “It really seems that their protocol is substandard and lacks the rigor necessary for a life-altering intervention.”

#10 Detransitioner was only 16 when Planned Parenthood gave her testosterone

In March 2025, Elle Palmer spoke during a public hearing of the Connecticut Judiciary Committee, describing how Planned Parenthood gave her testosterone when she was just 16 years old.

She testified:

I told the doctor about my traumatic female puberty with debilitating painful periods, severe suicidal thoughts, and self-harm, and anxiety so bad that I dropped out of school. I told him that I went to a children’s mental hospital three times before I was 14.

You might be surprised to hear that the doctors, nurses, and therapists not only knew these things, but they believed the root cause was due to my internal sense of gender identity. Transition was supposed to be the cure. Not even a history of sexual abuse will stop these medical professionals from putting a young girl on testosterone.

CT State Rep. Craig Fishbein

@CraigFishbein

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Why is "PLANNED PARENTHOOD" prescribing TESTOSTERONE to MINOR females? So sad for this young lady, that she could not get the proper treatment she needed (during the Obama Administration) and is forced to live with these conditions and worries the rest of her life.

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1:40 PM · Apr 2, 2025

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Years later, when she returned to Planned Parenthood and told them she wanted to transition back to a female, they were unable to help her.

" As weeks turned to months eventually every single doctor had called me back saying, ‘I don’t know. Maybe another doctor can help you,'" Palmer recalled. "Planned Parenthood could easily put a teenage girl on testosterone, but no one in the entire state knew how to treat a woman who just wanted her female body back.”

The Bottom Line:

It is clear it is far too easy to obtain powerful, potentially irreversible hormonal treatments at Planned Parenthood facilities. An organization that endangers its clients — especially minors — to such an extent does not deserve a time of taxpayer dollars.