Westminster requires international students to buy plan covering ‘gender-affirming’ surgery
Westminster College in Fulton, Missouri, requires international students taking at least one credit hour to purchase a health insurance plan with a $2,281 annual premium that includes coverage for “Gender Affirming Services.”
“Gender-affirming care” generally includes puberty blockers, cross-sex hormones, and genital mutilation surgeries that alter or remove healthy sex organs or secondary sex characteristics.
Unlike qualifying domestic students, international students are not permitted to waive the college-sponsored coverage.
The plan, offered through Wellfleet Insurance Company for the 2026-27 academic year, is listed on the private liberal arts college’s website. Westminster states that the annual premium is $2,281.
The plan’s “Other Professional Services” section includes a “Gender Affirming Services Benefit” and states that “Pre-Certification [is] Required for gender affirming surgery.”
The same “Gender Affirming” language appears in Westminster’s 2025-26 student health plan.
Most Westminster students are automatically enrolled in the college-sponsored plan. Domestic students taking at least 12 credits may request a waiver if they have comparable health coverage.
Westminster has also hosted campus programming promoting gender dysphoria.
The college’s September 2025 Hancock Symposium featured a sociology presentation titled “Democracy and Bodily Autonomy,” which accused “white supremacists,” “Christian nationalists,” and “Neo-Nazis” of advancing an “’anti-trans’ agenda.”
“A convergence of bad faith actors that include white supremacists, Christian nationalists, and Neo-Nazis have successfully implemented their ‘pro-life’ and ‘anti-trans’ agendas to build social and political power deeply rooted in fascism,” the description stated.
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