Oakland-based Kaiser backs away from gender-affirming surgeries for youth 

Kaiser Permanente, the Oakland-based health care provider, is pausing gender-affirming surgeries for patients under 19, effective August 29. It’s the latest instance of medical providers halting such care in California, as well as in many other states.

In a statement, Kaiser laid the blame on President Donald Trump, whose Executive Order 14187, titled “Protecting Children from Chemical and Surgical Mutilation,” interprets federal law to prevent the procedures at health providers that are recipients of Medicare or Medicaid coverage. There are three ongoing lawsuits challenging the legality of the order, including PFLAG v. Trump and Washington v. Trump.

As the Bay Area Reporter previously reported, a national injunction was given in the PFLAG case; however, this was before the U.S. Supreme Court in June upheld Tennessee’s ban on gender-affirming care for trans minors in United States v. Skrmetti.

Kaiser’s decision comes after the federal justice department recently sent subpoenas to 20 unnamed doctors and clinics.

“In response to these federal actions, many health systems and clinicians across the country have paused or discontinued providing gender-affirming care for adolescents,” Greg A. Adams, the chair and CEO of the Kaiser Foundation Health Plan and Hospitals, stated in a joint statement with other Kaiser leaders. “As the legal and regulatory environment for gender-affirming care continues to evolve, we must carefully consider the significant risks being created for health systems, clinicians, and patients under the age of 19 seeking this care.”

Adams cited the subpoenas, as well as a review undertaken by the Federal Trade Commission. 

He continued, “After significant deliberation and consultation with internal and external experts including our physicians, we’ve made the difficult decision to pause gender-affirming surgical treatment for patients under the age of 19 in our hospitals and surgical centers.”

Other gender-affirming care will continue to be offered, Kaiser officials said.

The subpoenas came on the heels of an FTC workshop on the “dangers of gender-affirming care,” which Andrew Ferguson, the chair of the commission, says are deceptive under federal trade laws. U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi – who is suing the state of California over trans student athletes in women and girls’ sports – stated in defense of the department that, “Medical professionals and organizations that mutilated children in the service of a warped ideology will be held accountable by this Department of Justice.”

The California Nurses Association blasted Kaiser in a statement.

“This is pre-emptively giving in to government overreach in health care,” stated Lady Rainsard, a registered nurse in plastic surgery at Kaiser San Francisco in a news release. “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.”

The nurses will hold a vigil Friday, July 25, at 4 p.m. outside the Kaiser Hospital at 2238 Geary Boulevard in San Francisco. 

Gay state Senator Scott Wiener (D-San Francisco) stated that Kaiser is obeying in advance.

“Rule number one in fighting fascism is that bending the knee to a tyrant only invites more tyranny. It’s disappointing that some of our largest institutions keep losing [sight] of that proven fact,” Wiener stated. “Trump has declared war on trans people and trans kids and their families in particular. Now is the time to have these kids’ and these families’ backs, not to fold under pressure from the most homophobic and transphobic Administration in modern history – an Administration that won’t stop until LGBTQ people are entirely erased from public life.”

Wiener also argued Kaiser’s actions, and similar moves by other health providers, run afoul of state law, which protects trans people’s civil rights.

“California law is clear: Health systems can’t deny care to trans people,” he stated. “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. Kaiser’s decision follows Stanford and Children’s Hospital LA also stopping medical care for trans youth.”

Children’s Hospital LA stopped providing gender-affirming care Tuesday, July 22. Stanford stopped providing gender-affirming surgeries to patients under 19 last month. 

Shannon Minter, a trans man who is legal director for the San Francisco-based National Center for LGBTQ Rights, stated to the B.A.R. that Kaiser should’ve held its ground and that the move denies families’ rights to make their own choices.”

“Surgeries for youth are generally not recommended; however, it is disappointing to see Kaiser cave into this administration's bullying and surrender its professional judgment and responsibility to patients,” Minter stated. “The federal government has no business inserting itself into the doctor-patient relationship. These decisions should be made by families consulting with their doctors, not by federal officials. This sets a dangerous precedent that undermines everyone's freedom to make our own medical decisions.”

The Transgender Law Center didn’t return comment. 

Updated, 7/24/25: This article has been updated with comments from Shannon Minter.