Kaiser Permanente, including its northwest clinics, will stop providing gender-affirming surgeries for minors starting next month amid efforts by the Trump administration to restrict access to such care.
“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,” the nonprofit health care system said in a statement Wednesday.
Kaiser Permanente, which operates hospitals in Clackamas and Hillsboro, said it will pause the surgeries starting Aug. 29 but will continue to make other gender-affirming care treatments available.
“We recognize that this is an extremely challenging and stressful time for our patients seeking care, as well as for our clinicians whose mission is to care for them,” Kaiser said. “We will remain a voice and advocate for safe, high-quality, and evidence-based care for transgender patients.”
The health care consortium said the regulatory environment has created “risks” for health systems, clinicians and patients, and said it would continue to meet with regulators, patients and others “with the goal of identifying a responsible path forward.”
Gender-affirming treatments for minors can include puberty-blocking drugs to halt the permanent changes that can happen in early adolescence, hormone therapy and, in rare cases, surgeries.
Proponents say these treatments can be lifesaving for transgender teens. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, transgender teens have a higher risk of attempting suicide than their peers. A 2020 study also suggests that adolescents who receive drug treatments to affirm their gender identity have improved mental health and well-being.
Critics pushing to ban gender-affirming treatments, however, have argued that minors aren’t mature enough to consent to receiving care.
Since taking office, the Trump administration has taken a series of steps to limit access to gender-affirming care for minors. In January, President Donald Trump signed an executive order restricting federal funding for gender-affirming medical treatments for patients under 19.
While a federal judge blocked that order following lawsuits brought by state attorneys general and advocacy organizations, the Trump administration has continued to pursue its policy and has enlisted federal agencies to help curtail gender-affirming care services.
The administration has threatened to pull federal grants from hospitals and medical schools that continue to provide gender transition treatments for minors, limited coverage for gender-affirming care for adults and minors covered by plans under the Affordable Care Act marketplace, issued subpoenas to physicians and clinics that provide the specialized care. The U.S. Department of Justice has suggested it might bring criminal charges against providers and clinics.
Hospitals in other states — including those with shield laws to protect access — have already announced plans to roll back or end gender-affirming care services for youth.
In Washington, D.C., Children’s National Hospital said it would stop prescribing puberty blockers and hormone therapy next month. UChicago Medicine in Illinois also announced it would stop all pediatric transgender care.
In California, Children’s Hospital Los Angeles shuttered its Center for Transyouth Health and Development, one of the nation’s oldest and largest clinics for transgender and gender nonconforming youth. And Stanford Medicine stopped providing gender-affirming surgeries for patients under the age of 19.
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