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Kaiser Permanente, one of the nation’s largest healthcare providers, announced that starting Aug. 29, it will pause gender “transition” surgeries for patients under the age of 19, citing intensified federal investigations and regulatory pressure.
Kaiser said it made the decision “in light of efforts from the federal government to target hospitals, clinics and doctors that provide gender-affirming care,” KCRA 3, an NBC affiliate, reported July 23.
“This has included executive orders instructing federal agencies to take actions to curtail access and restrict funding for gender-affirming care, hospital inquiries by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, and regulatory changes to coverage and broader federal agency review, including by the Federal Trade Commission,” the statement read.
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The organization also cited recent subpoenas the US Department of Justice issued to doctors and clinics that provide gender-related medical “treatments” to minors as part of its rationale for the decision.
Kaiser’s decision follows a similar move by the University of Chicago Medicine, which also recently announced it will immediately end all “gender-affirming” treatments for minors.
Despite the halt on surgeries, Kaiser said it will continue offering other forms of non-surgical “gender-affirming” treatments for adolescents, including puberty blockers and hormone treatments, OPB reported.
In January, President Donald Trump issued an executive order titled “Protecting Children from Chemical and Surgical Mutilation,” in which he threatened to withhold federal funding from hospitals that expose children to gender “transition” drugs and surgeries.
Following the order, numerous hospitals across the country began canceling gender “transition” treatments for minors, citing Trump’s order and the potential loss of federal funding.
The administration recently moved to enforce the order. It announced plans July 17 to cut federal funding from hospitals that continue offering “sex trait modifications to minors.”
