{"id":160271,"date":"2026-02-02T13:43:11","date_gmt":"2026-02-02T13:43:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/160271\/"},"modified":"2026-02-02T13:43:11","modified_gmt":"2026-02-02T13:43:11","slug":"attorney-general-bonta-sues-california-hospital-for-curtailing-gender-affirming-care-east-bay-times","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/160271\/","title":{"rendered":"Attorney General Bonta sues California hospital for curtailing gender-affirming care \u2013 East Bay Times"},"content":{"rendered":"

Rady Children\u2019s Hospital said Saturday that it is reviewing a new lawsuit<\/a> filed by California Attorney General Rob Bonta that alleges violation of the conditions his office placed on the organization\u2019s merger with Children\u2019s Hospital of Orange County in 2024.<\/p>\n

Among those conditions is an alphabetized list of 36 medical services that the combined health care systems are required to continue providing \u201cfor ten years from the closing date of the affiliation agreement.\u201d Gender-affirming care is No. 10 on the list, between diabetes, endocrinology services and gastroenterology surgery.<\/p>\n

The attorney general\u2019s conditional affiliation approval is quite specific that those listed services be maintained \u201cat no less than their current capacities, types, acuity levels, licenses and certifications, and in compliance with state and federal regulations.\u201d<\/p>\n

When those conditions were made, and the Rady-CHOC merger was completed in early 2025, the federal government had not yet proposed ending all Medicaid and Medicare funding for facilities that provide gender-affirming care to minors.<\/p>\n

Rady confirmed last week that it had stopped all gender-affirming<\/a> \u201cmedical interventions, procedures and prescriptions,\u201d while continuing to offer supportive services such as counseling and offering mental health care resources.<\/p>\n

The decision was immediately decried by the estimated 1,000 families in San Diego County that were using Rady\u2019s gender clinic and by the larger advocacy community, which includes many of the program\u2019s previous patients who attended a protest outside the hospital one week ago.<\/p>\n

Taking Orange County into account, Bonta says the actual number of kids affected is larger than 1,000.<\/p>\n

\u201cRady flagrantly disregarded its legal obligations by unilaterally deciding to preemptively comply with the Administration\u2019s demands and cease medically necessary care for roughly 1,450 patients,\u201d Bonta said in a statement<\/a>. \u201cWe will not allow Rady to violate its obligations to patients and the state.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe will fight to uphold the law and ensure Californians can access gender-affirming care without facing unfair roadblocks.\u201d<\/p>\n

Rady cited federal action impacting all Medi-Cal funding, not just funding for gender-affirming care, in its explanation of its actions.<\/p>\n

The organization reiterated that explanation in a statement Saturday.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe recent changes to our gender-affirming care services reflect a very difficult decision,\u201d Rady\u2019s statement said. \u201cThat decision was guided by our responsibilities as a nonprofit pediatric healthcare system to continue serving all children and families across our communities, including through participation in essential federal programs.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe will address the Attorney General\u2019s claims through the legal process.\u201d<\/p>\n

Some, such as TransFamily Support Services in San Diego, have pointed out that, while the removal of federal funding for organizations providing gender services is imperiled, the action has not yet been taken by the administration. The public comment period for the proposals<\/a> on funding cancellation remains open until Feb. 17, and lawsuits, including action from Bonta, promise that the fight over this particular issue is far from over.<\/p>\n

It was a point that Kathie Moehlig, TransFamily\u2019s executive director, made clear when Rady confirmed its decision and began canceling appointments last week.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis lawsuit confirms what families have known all along: Rady Children\u2019s Hospital did not just abandon transgender youth \u2014 it broke the law,\u201d Moehlig said in a statement.<\/p>\n

\u201cRady made a deliberate choice to end medically necessary care for patients under 19 despite clear legal protections in California and despite binding merger conditions that explicitly required this care to continue.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Rady Children\u2019s Hospital said Saturday that it is reviewing a new lawsuit filed by California Attorney General Rob…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":160272,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[7,9,8,400,1570,1280,181,2434,1338,100,13,75656,1695],"class_list":["post-160271","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-california","tag-california","tag-california-headlines","tag-california-news","tag-california-politics","tag-health","tag-health-care","tag-latest-headlines","tag-lgbtq","tag-morning-wire","tag-news","tag-politics","tag-transgender-issues","tag-trump-administration"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/160271","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=160271"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/160271\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/160272"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=160271"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=160271"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=160271"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}