Kaiser Permanente will halt so-called gender-transition surgeries for patients under 19, becoming the latest healthcare provider to revise its policy amid growing federal scrutiny.
The pause will take effect Aug. 29 and affects all such surgical procedures at Kaiser hospitals and surgical centers. A Kaiser spokesperson told KTXL that the decision was made following consultations with both internal and external medical experts amid evolving federal oversight, including an executive order and ongoing inquiries by federal agencies.
All other services, which could include counseling and provision of puberty-blocking drugs and cross-sex hormones, will continue to be offered.
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Since taking office in January, the Trump administration has signaled a sharp focus on gender-related procedures for youth with gender dysphoria. In January, President Donald Trump signed an executive order directing the heads of executive branch agencies to “take appropriate steps to ensure that institutions receiving Federal research or education grants end the chemical and surgical mutilation of children.”
Kaiser states that there are also ongoing reviews by agencies such as the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services and the Federal Trade Commission, according to the provider.
Earlier this month, the U.S. Department of Justice issued more than 20 subpoenas against clinics that are engaged in gender procedures on children.
While Kaiser did not disclose how many surgeries for minors had been performed or requested, it said it is “meeting with regulators as well as our clinicians, patients, their families, and the community” to work toward “a responsible path forward.”
In a separate statement, the health system acknowledged the stress the pause may cause. “We recognize that this is an extremely challenging and stressful time for our patients seeking care, as well as for our clinicians whose mission is to care for them,” the spokesperson said, adding that Kaiser will “work closely with each patient to support their care journey.”
California Sen. Scott Wiener, an openly gay Democrat, criticized the decision, calling it a denial of care for young people who are under the guidance of physicians and with parental consent.
Days earlier, Children’s National Hospital in Washington, D.C., confirmed it would stop prescribing puberty blockers and cross-sex hormones to minors enrolled in its Gender Development Program, beginning Aug. 30.
In a notice to current and prospective patients, the hospital said the move was prompted by “escalating legal and regulatory risks.”
Children’s National had already paused the prescribing of such treatments in January, shortly after Trump’s executive order was issued. The hospital clarified at the time that it did not conduct surgeries involving the removal of healthy body parts in minors.
In June, a major Ivy League school, Penn Medicine, announced that it would no longer perform body-altering sex-change procedures on minors to comply with one of President Trump’s executive orders.
President Trump’s January order established as official policy that no federal funding would be used for the “so-called ‘transition’ of a child from one sex to another.” The executive directive instructed agencies to enforce the restriction across any institution receiving federal health, education, or research funding.
The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services released a 400-page report in May that outlined the risks associated with youth gender interventions. The document stated that such procedures may result in infertility, sexual dysfunction, impaired bone development, cardiovascular and metabolic disorders, psychiatric issues, surgical complications and regret.
The report also referred to the Cass Review, a comprehensive assessment of youth gender care commissioned by the U.K.’s National Health Service, which restricted the provision of puberty-blocking drugs and hormones to clinical trials in 2024. Its findings were included in the HHS publication, which forms part of the regulatory rationale currently driving the policy changes at multiple hospitals.
