Families protest as Sutter Health ends gender-affirming care for Bay Area youth

A coalition of parents, trans youth, and their allies known as Rainbow Families Action marched down Powell Street in Emeryville Monday to demand that Sutter Health reverse its decision to end gender-affirming care for patients under the age of 19.

Sutter Health’s decision, first announced to staff and patients on November 20, the Transgender Day of Remembrance, follows similar moves by Kaiser Permanente, Stanford, and Children’s Hospital Los Angeles.

Arne Johnson, a cisgender father of a trans child and a nonbinary child who is a lead advocate for Rainbow Families Action, told the Bay Area Reporter that Sutter Health had canceled appointments for gender-affirming care ahead of a self-imposed deadline of December 10.

The coalition responded with a letter demanding that Sutter Health leaders meet with impacted families and design a plan for continuity of care.

“Parents are panicking,” said the Reverend Dr. Kelly Colwell, who is queer and co-senior minister from the First Congregational Church of Berkeley UCC. She and members of her congregation marched with the coalition of families. “People come from out of state to get care [in the Bay Area]. If they’re not safe here, then where do they go?” she asked.

Colwell was referring to state law that makes California a refuge for trans kids and their families. Authored by gay state Senator Scott Wiener (D-San Francisco) three years ago, this year Wiener successfully authored legislation to strengthen the law. Governor Gavin Newsom signed the bill in October.

Wiener issued a statement Monday, calling Sutter Health’s decision “harmful.”

“Medical experts agree overwhelmingly that parents and young people, in consultation with their physicians, should have access to pursue this care if they choose – the alternative is a crisis of depression, addiction, and suicide among trans youth,” he stated. “Ending this care is a mistake that will harm the health of LGBTQ young people, and Sutter should reverse this decision.”

In a statement, the National Union of Healthcare Workers, which represents 1,100 Sutter Health employees at hospitals, hospice, and home health settings, called on the Northern California health care giant to reverse its decision to end gender affirming care for anyone under 19.

“Our union believes that everyone should be able to receive the care they need,” said NUHW President Emeritus Sal Rosselli, a gay man. “Trans kids endure potentially life-threatening trauma navigating who they are in a culture that targets them for abuse. By giving into pressure from the Trump Administration, Sutter is worsening transphobia in our society and putting lives at risk by refusing to provide patients appropriate medical care.”

The decisions by many hospitals to pause gender affirming care for youth came after an executive order from President Donald Trump in late January that declared the federal government would not support the chemical and surgical alterations of youth, such as hormone treatments and surgery, under the age of 19. An executive order is not legislation and does not require approval from Congress. Nevertheless, many hospitals and clinics across the country have halted gender-affirming care services due to Trump’s order.

Wiener, who is running for the U.S. House seat held by outgoing Congressmember Nancy Pelosi (D-San Francisco), was critical of Trump and his administration.

“MAGA is scapegoating LGBTQ youth to distract from Trump’s complete failure to improve the cost of living for working people, and California health providers should stand firm against Trump’s bigotry,” he stated.

Other Bay Area medical facilities, like Stanford Health Care and Kaiser Permanente, moved to end gender-affirming care for minors over the summer as the B.A.R. previously reported. https://www.ebar.com/story/156241

On November 13, California Attorney General Rob Bonta issued a statement reminding California health care providers and insurers that, under state law, they are prohibited from discriminating or denying health care on the basis of gender identity. 

In August, Bonta joined 14 state attorneys general and Washington, D.C. to file a federal lawsuit against the Trump administration as it interprets federal law to prevent gender-affirming care procedures at health providers that are recipients of Medicare or Medicaid coverage. The lawsuit refers to the executive order as the “denial of care” order. https://www.ebar.com/story/156463

With the August court filing, there are now four lawsuits challenging the legality of the executive order, including PFLAG v. Trump; Washington v. Trump; and EK v. Department of Defense Education Activity. A national injunction was given in the PFLAG case; however, this was before the U.S. Supreme Court in June upheld Tennessee’s ban on gender-affirming care for trans minors in United States v. Skrmetti.

Hormone treatments like puberty blockers were initially approved for use by minors by the United States Food and Drug Administration in 1993, to treat a condition called ‘precocious puberty’ . The condition is defined by the early development of secondary sex characteristics in children.

Puberty blockers are also used to manage conditions such as endometriosis, hormone-sensitive cancers, and as fertility treatments.

It’s not just hormones and surgeries that have been paused, however. Sydney Simpson, a nurse at Kaiser Permanente, told the B.A.R. that health care for transgender and nonbinary youth includes mental health and peer support groups.

Simpson, who is trans and nonbinary and co-founded the trans caucus at the Harvey Milk LGBTQ Democratic Club, said that patients and their parents are faced with organizing alternate care, out of network and out of pocket.

The B.A.R. reached out to Sutter Health for a response.

"Like other health systems locally and across the country, we are working to ensure compliance with recent federal actions and other developments affecting the provision of gender-affirming care only for patients under 19. We remain committed to approaching this with compassion, physician guidance, and compliance with applicable requirements,” a spokesperson for Sutter Health wrote on Monday.

Johnson said that some impacted families were able to meet with Sutter Health officials following the coalition’s letter and subsequent protest. He told the B.A.R. that previously canceled appointments had been reinstated. Whether or not Sutter Health will progress with their self-imposed deadline of December 10, “we’ll just have to wait and see,” Johnson said.