CHOC to offer youth gender-affirming care for 6 more months<\/p>\n
Children\u2019s Hospital of Orange County\u2019s parent company, Rady Children\u2019s Health, will keep offering gender-affirming care to people under 19 while a court case plays out.<\/p>\n
More than 1,000 families in Southern California learned this week that they will be able to access healthcare for transgender youth under 19 for at least another six months. That\u2019s according to an extended temporary restraining order in a court case between the state of California and Rady Children\u2019s Health, which operates the largest hospital networks for kids in the region.<\/p>\n
The agreement is the longest guarantee of medical care these families have had since January for the network that includes Children\u2019s Hospital of Orange County and Rady Children\u2019s Hospital in San Diego. <\/p>\n
While patient advocates told LAist the news is welcome, they also said it\u2019s been a confusing time for families.<\/p>\n
What\u2019s in the agreement?<\/p>\n
The California Attorney General\u2019s Office, which sued<\/a> Rady Children\u2019s Health in January after the hospital announced it would stop<\/a> gender-affirming care for people under 19, confirmed that the care at Rady hospitals will continue until the court issues a ruling on a permanent injunction. That hearing is slated for January 2027.<\/p>\n Keep up with LAist.<\/p>\n If you’re enjoying this article, you’ll love our daily newsletter, The LA Report. Each weekday, catch up on the 5 most pressing stories to start your morning in 3 minutes or less. <\/p>\n The temporary restraining order also now explicitly protects doctors\u2019 ability to prescribe puberty-blocking implants when deemed medically appropriate. The Attorney General\u2019s Office said that this provision was put in at their request.<\/p>\n The judge overseeing the case has issued or extended temporary restraining orders requiring Rady hospitals to continue offering gender-affirming healthcare to people under 19 multiple times since February<\/a>.<\/p>\n The state of California also said in a June 22 court filing that there was no evidence that Rady Children\u2019s Health has been served with a subpoena for patients\u2019 health records, which advocates say the federal government has used<\/a> as a tactic to intimidate hospitals into stopping gender-affirming care for people under 19.<\/p>\n How advocates are responding<\/p>\n Advocates for trans youth healthcare access say that the news is a welcome reprieve for families.<\/p>\n \u201cWe’re very happy that the [Attorney General\u2019s Office] is pushing this as hard as they are, and the judge just keeps extending this [temporary restraining order] time and time again,\u201d said Kathie Moehlig, director of the nonprofit TransFamily Support Services.<\/p>\n But Moehlig, who works directly with families to connect them to gender-affirming care providers, said the situation is also proving \u201cvery confusing\u201d for families, who say the hospital hasn\u2019t been properly communicating important updates to them.<\/p>\n Patient families also launched their own lawsuit<\/a> against Rady Children\u2019s Health in March seeking to restore the care at the hospital system, alleging that the hospital\u2019s plans to end care at its hospital violated state anti-discrimination law.<\/p>\n \u201cThis is an incredibly important time in this country where the federal government has targeted this medical care, not based on science or medicine, but based on politics,\u201d said attorney Amy Whelan of the National Center for LGBTQ Rights, part of the legal team representing Rady patient families.<\/p>\n Rady Children\u2019s Health did not respond to a request for comment before publication.<\/p>\n What this means for families with trans kids<\/p>\n Advocates have stressed that gender-affirming care for youth is legal, and families should continue to seek it if needed for their children. California has passed shield laws protecting the care within state boundaries.<\/p>\n \u201cPatients are protected, and Rady Children’s Health is continuing this care, and they will do that for at least the next six months,\u201d said Whelan.<\/p>\n Moehlig of TransFamily Support Services said that she hopes Rady Children\u2019s Health will be more communicative with patient families in the months ahead.<\/p>\n \u201cIf you’re not following what’s happening, if you haven’t seen today or yesterday’s news, you might not know that they’re still open,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n The state\u2019s lawsuit against Rady Children\u2019s Health will not have implications for other hospitals in the state. California Attorney General Rob Bonta\u2019s lawsuit specifically cited a merger agreement his office approved in 2024 in which Rady Children\u2019s Health hospitals agreed to maintain their current level of gender-affirming care.<\/p>\n How to get connected with resources for trans youth<\/p>\n For families looking for care, Moehlig stressed that the care is still legal and protected for youth in the state of California, and TransFamily Support Services is one of many organizations that can help connect parents with doctors and other resources.<\/p>\n \u201cI think it’s important for families to work with agencies that are really committed to getting them the best care rather than necessarily trying to find it through a Google search,\u201d Moehlig said.<\/p>\n You can find more information on how to get connected with TransFamily Support Services\u2019 resources on their website<\/a>.<\/p>\n The organization Gender Wellness of Los Angeles has a list of resources<\/a> for transgender peopple in Southern California, including some specifically for families.<\/p>\n The L.A. LGBT Center also has a list<\/a> of organizations for people looking to support their trans loved ones.<\/p>\n What’s next<\/p>\n The extension of gender-affirming care at CHOC and Rady\u2019s other hospitals comes as advocates are seeking to beef up protections for trans healthcare, especially as the federal government issues a fresh round of subpoenas to hospitals around the country, some of which have already been blocked<\/a>.<\/p>\n Advocates are also watching to see if Gov. Gavin Newsom will approve increased funding aimed at protecting gender-affirming care and reproductive healthcare. Tens of millions of dollars were proposed for the California budget but didn\u2019t make it into Newsom\u2019s version. The governor has until Tuesday to decide whether to include the funding.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"CHOC to offer youth gender-affirming care for 6 more months Children\u2019s Hospital of Orange County\u2019s parent company, Rady…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":376529,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[36],"tags":[163,165,164,36652,4297,152477,93293,144221,7164],"class_list":["post-376528","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-anaheim","tag-anaheim","tag-anaheim-headlines","tag-anaheim-news","tag-choc","tag-gender-affirming-care","tag-orange-county-childrens-hospital","tag-rady-childrens","tag-transgender-healthcare","tag-youth"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/376528","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=376528"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/376528\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/376529"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=376528"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=376528"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=376528"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}