Kaiser Permanente will pause gender-affirming surgical procedures for sufferers underneath the age of 19 starting subsequent month, the nonprofit well being large mentioned on Wednesday.
In an announcement shared with The Hill, Kaiser, headquartered in Oakland, Calif., and serving greater than 12 million members in eight states and Washington, D.C., cited an evolving “legal and regulatory environment for gender-affirming care” and up to date actions by the Trump administration to limit entry to prescription medicines, together with puberty blockers and hormones, and, in rarer circumstances, transition-related surgical procedures for youth.
“Since January, there has been significant focus by the federal government on gender-affirming care, specifically for patients under the age of 19,” Kaiser mentioned in its assertion.
On Jan. 20, his first day again in workplace, President Trump signed an govt order proclaiming that the U.S. acknowledges solely two unchangeable sexes, female and male, and broadly limiting federal spending on “gender ideology.” The next week, he signed a second order geared toward ending federal help for gender-affirming take care of adolescents youthful than 19, calling medical doctors’ provision of such care to youth “a stain on our Nation’s history.”
Two federal judges blocked a portion of the order that threatened to chop off federal funding for establishments that present gender-affirming take care of anybody underneath 19.
Addressing a joint session of Congress in March, Trump, who campaigned closely on a promise to ban gender-affirming take care of minors, known as on lawmakers to go laws “permanently banning and criminalizing sex changes on children and forever ending the lie that any child is trapped in the wrong body.” He has endorsed a invoice by Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.) that will make it unlawful to offer gender-affirming care to youth.
Different Trump administration actions to severely restrict entry to transition-related care embrace letters to hospitals from the Facilities for Medicare & Medicaid Providers and a current Federal Commerce Fee workshop on “The Dangers of ‘Gender-Affirming Care’ for Minors.”
Earlier this month, the Division of Justice mentioned it despatched greater than 20 subpoenas to medical doctors and clinics “involved in performing transgender medical procedures on children” in investigations involving alleged false statements and well being care fraud.
In its assertion on Wednesday, Kaiser mentioned it needed to “carefully consider the significant risks being created for health systems, clinicians, and patients” in gentle of the federal government’s actions.
“After significant deliberation and consultation with internal and external experts including our physicians, we’ve made the difficult decision to pause surgical treatment for patients under the age of 19 in our hospitals and surgical centers. This pause is effective August 29, 2025,” the well being care nonprofit mentioned. “All other gender-affirming care treatment remains available. We continue to meet with regulators as well as our clinicians, patients, their families, and the community with the goal of identifying a responsible path forward.”
Kaiser added that different well being methods have paused or discontinued transition-related take care of younger folks in response to federal actions.
On Tuesday, Kids’s Hospital Los Angeles closed its Middle for Transyouth Well being and Improvement underneath stress from the Trump administration. In a message posted to its web site this week, Kids’s Nationwide Hospital in Washington acknowledged equally that it could cease prescribing gender-affirming medicines, efficient August 30, citing “escalating legal and regulatory risks.”
Different hospital methods, together with UChicago Drugs and the College of Pittsburgh Medical Middle, have lately introduced that they are going to not provide gender-affirming care to anybody underneath the age of 19.
The California Nurses Affiliation, which represents roughly 25,000 registered nurses at Kaiser hospitals, denounced the well being care nonprofit’s announcement on Wednesday.
“This is pre-emptively giving in to government overreach in health care,” Girl Rainsard, RN in cosmetic surgery at Kaiser San Francisco, mentioned in an announcement. “Medical providers, not politicians, know what’s best for our patients. Gender-affirming care is safe and effective. As nurses, we always follow the precautionary principle, and we always advocate for our patients. Right now, we deem it a much greater risk to cave to this kind of government overreach than it is to provide this care to our patients, no matter their age.”
California state Sen. Scott Weiner (D) equally condemned Kaiser’s and different state well being care methods’ determination to discontinue care.
“California law is clear: Health systems can’t deny care to trans people. And this is a straight-up denial of care to youth who are under the care of a physician and whose parents have consented to the treatment,” Wiener wrote on the social platform X.
In February, California’s Democratic Legal professional Common Rob Bonta informed state hospitals and clinics that they’re obligated underneath the state’s anti-discrimination legislation to proceed offering gender-affirming care, regardless of the Trump administration’s calls for to droop it.
“Let me be clear: California law has not changed, and hospitals and clinics have a legal obligation to provide equal access to healthcare services,” Bonta mentioned.
A spokesperson for the state lawyer common’s workplace didn’t instantly return a request for remark.
Chloe Cole, a conservative political activist and opponent of gender-affirming care following her personal detransition, sued Kaiser in 2023 for medical negligence. Her go well with was introduced by the conservative nonprofit Middle for American Liberty, LiMandri & Jonna LLP and the Dhillon Legislation Group, a legislation apply based by Harmeet Dhillon, Trump’s assistant lawyer common for civil rights on the Justice Division.
Cole celebrated Kaiser’s announcement that it could be suspending transition-related surgical take care of youth in a put up on X. “We are winning!” she wrote. “Thank you to the Trump administration for protecting kids!!!”
