California Attorney General Rob Bonta today issued a sharp warning to hospitals, reminding them of their legal duty to provide gender-affirming care for transgender youth under state law.
As former President Donald Trump pushes to restrict transgender healthcare nationwide, California is moving to oppose any discrimination in medical treatment firmly. Bonta reasserted that healthcare providers must continue offering gender-affirming care under the state’s Unruh Civil Rights Act, which prohibits discrimination based on gender identity.
The alert follows Trump’s recent executive order that bars medically funded institutions of the federal government from providing transgender minors under the age of 19 with puberty blockers and hormone therapy. Hospitals have stopped some services, from California to New York, to the dismay of trans youth facing denial of vital medical care.
Children’s Hospital Los Angeles (CHLA) recently stopped starting hormone treatments while considering Trump’s order. However, Bonta warned the hospital that withholding care from transgender patients while continuing similar treatments for cisgender youth with other medical conditions is a clear violation of state law.
“The Unruh Act does not allow you to provide care to cisgender patients while withholding it from transgender patients,” Bonta told The Guardian.
He added that the state could sue the hospitals, which could result in court injunctions and fines. The policy might also violate federal safeguards under the Affordable Care Act.
The controversy has ignited a national firestorm, with civil rights organizations and families of affected patients filing a court action against Trump’s order. A preliminary order has halted federal authorities from enforcing funding cuts on hospitals that provide gender-affirming care.
New York Attorney General Letitia James and other state attorneys-general also issued warnings to hospitals that the denial of medical care to transgendered youth is unlawful.
Meanwhile, the American Civil Liberties Union and Lambda Legal filed lawsuits on behalf of families who say their children’s healthcare was suddenly revoked because of the Trump order. Parents are lamenting the abrupt cancellations, saying the policy is harmful and unconstitutional.
Bonta promised that California would continue the fight for transgender rights, defend healthcare providers, and enforce state laws that provide access to gender-affirming treatment.
“We will do everything in our power to use the full force of the law to protect both providers and patients,” he said.
