California AG Asks Children’s Hospital to Disclose Changes to Transgender Policies

An exterior view of Children's Hospital Los Angeles on Feb. 6, 2025. The hospital announced on February 4 it was pausing the initiation of hormonal therapy for “gender affirming care patients” under the age of 19 as they evaluate an executive order by President Donald Trump "to fully understand its implications." Trump signed an executive order on January 28 to restrict funding for gender transition procedures for minors. Robyn Beck/AFP via Getty Images

California Attorney General Rob Bonta sent a letter on Feb. 5 to Children’s Hospital Los Angeles, after multiple reports emerged that the hospital was pausing hormonal medications for new patients with gender dysphoria under the age of 19.

It follows President Donald Trump’s recent executive order restricting federal funding for gender transition medications and procedures.

In the letter, Bonta warned the hospital that under California law, “withholding services from transgender individuals ... while offering such services to cisgender individuals, is discrimination.”

“Please inform us within 10 days whether your facility is canceling appointments for gender affirming care and the justification for doing so,” he wrote.

Protesters gathered outside of the children’s hospital in Los Angeles on Feb. 6 to voice their opposition to the hospital’s decision to stop providing hormonal medication to those with gender dysphoria in the wake of Trump’s executive action.

California’s attorney general on Feb. 5 also joined a coalition of 14 attorneys general in issuing a statement in support of preserving access to “gender-affirming care.”

Letitia James, New York’s attorney general, is part of the coalition, and she also warned hospitals on Feb. 3 that discontinuing transgender procedures for minors in response to Trump’s executive order would violate New York law.

“State attorneys general will continue to enforce state laws that provide access to gender-affirming care,” the joint statement said, “and we will challenge any unlawful effort by the Trump Administration to restrict access to it in our jurisdictions.”

Trump signed on Jan. 28 an executive order titled “Protecting Children From Chemical and Surgical Mutilation.”

The order said that a growing number of children have undergone “a series of irreversible medical interventions” to change their sex, but many later regret the “horrifying tragedy.”

The order states this trend must stop, and accordingly, it is the policy of the United States that “it will not fund, sponsor, promote, assist, or support the so-called ’transition' of a child from one sex to another.”

In his letter, Bonta advised hospitals not to worry about their federal funding being cut. “The recent Executive Order pertaining to gender-affirming care for minors does not provide federal agencies with any basis to threaten or revoke your federal funding,” he wrote in the letter.

Bonta’s office reminded California hospitals and clinics in a separate Feb. 5 statement of their “ongoing obligation under California anti-discrimination law to provide gender affirming care amid confusion resulting from” the Trump Administration.

Erin Friday, a licensed California attorney and president of Our Duty, a parent group protecting children from gender ideology, told The Epoch Times that mounting evidence has shown that gender interventions are not medically necessary.

“The attorney general cannot force medical providers to perform treatments on children that are not medically necessary,” she said. “They don’t improve a child’s mental health, nor do they prevent suicide, they are certainly experimental ... they are more harmful than helpful.”

Friday also advised hospitals of the potential legal ramifications of violating federal policies.

“I would take my chances with Rob Bonta rather than the federal government,” she said, “If I were the hospitals, I would take this opportunity to ... use [Trump’s executive order] as an off-ramp, and stop doing this to children.”