California is suing a San Diego children’s hospital after it stopped “gender-affirming care” to minors to comply with Trump administration guidance.
Attorney General Rob Bonta is taking Rady Children’s Hospital to court, claiming the hospital broke the terms of a merger agreement with Children’s Hospital of Orange County, KCRA3 reported.
Rady says the move came after the Trump administration threatened to pull funding and shut them down for offering care to patients under 18.
California Attorney General Rob Bonta is suing a San Diego hospital that stopped providing gender-affirming care. REUTERS
Rady Children’s Hospital in San Diego is at the center of the lawsuit. Google Maps
Rady says the move came after the Trump administration threatened to pull funding and shut them down for offering care to patients under 18. AFP via Getty Images
“Rady Children’s Health has chosen to violate its merger agreement and California law in response to the Trump Administration’s illegal campaign against providers of gender-affirming care,” Bonta said in a statement.
“Rady flagrantly disregarded its legal obligations by unilaterally deciding to preemptively comply with the Administration’s demands and cease medically necessary care for roughly 1,450 patients. We will not allow Rady to violate its obligations to its patients and the State. We will fight to uphold the law and ensure Californians can access gender-affirming care without facing unfair roadblocks,” he added.
Bonta approved the merger between Rady and CHOC back in November 2024.
“The merger conditions included a requirement that Rady maintain existing levels of specialty healthcare services — including gender-affirming care — through 2034. The conditions also prohibit Rady from discriminating on the basis of gender, gender identity, and other specified protected characteristics,” stated a release from Bonta’s office.
The hospital said it made a “very difficult decision” to protect its broader pediatric services.
“That decision was guided by our responsibilities as a nonprofit pediatric healthcare system to continue serving all children and families,” the hospital said in a statement. Rady announced on January 20 that it would stop offering gender-affirming care to patients under 19 on February 6.
This comes after a group of 19 states and the District of Columbia sued the Department of Health and Human Services last year, after it called puberty blockers, hormone therapy, and surgeries for minors unsafe and ineffective.
