Protesters rally outside CHLA after it pauses gender-affirming care for new transgender patients
Those who have already been receiving hormone therapy at CHLA won't be impacted, but some people are still concerned.
LOS ANGELES (KABC) -- Protesters held a rally Thursday outside Children's Hospital Los Angeles after it paused the initiation of hormone therapy for new transgender youth patients.
Last week, President Donald Trump signed an executive order seeking to restrict gender-affirming care for people under the age of 19.
The order would move to restrict medical institutions that receive federal funding from providing such care -- including puberty blockers, hormone therapies, and surgeries -- calling on the secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services to "take all appropriate actions to end the chemical and surgical mutilation of children."
Those who have already been receiving hormone therapy at CHLA won't be impacted.
The statement from the hospital about the pause reads in part, "current patients already receiving treatment will continue with their course of care. We continue to carefully evaluate the executive order to fully understand its implications. The physical and mental health, safety, and well-being of all of our patients remains our highest priority."
"To see that they have stopped accepting new patients was so disheartening because we know that [CHLA] is a lifeline to so many young people and their families who are in need of such critical care," said Joe Hollendoner, the CEO of the Los Angeles LGBT Center.
"One of the things that was really disturbing for me was to understand that they were making this decision despite the fact that it is still the law of the land here in California to provide this essential care."
California law protects patients receiving gender-affirming care and the doctors who provide it.
Attorney General Rob Bonta issued a letter putting CHLA on notice of its obligations under anti-discrimination law.
Lincoln Heights resident Jesse Thorne says his transgender daughters are both patients at Children's Hospital. He was outside the hospital Thursday fighting for their care. For now, Thorne's 13-year-old will continue her hormone blocking therapy, but that same treatment hangs in the balance for his 11-year-old.
Skye Tooley with United Teachers Los Angeles union is a trans educator. They worry about the impact of the hospital's decision on trans youth.
"We're supposed to be a safe haven, we're supposed to be a sanctuary city for trans people, trans kids, and instead we've now isolated them and said 'No, we're not going to give you the health care anymore,'" Tooley said.
Roxanna Diaz, whose 16-year-old daughter has been receiving gender-affirming care at CHLA for two years, has concerns about what's ahead.
"We don't know what's next. First, it's new patients. It could be, you know, current patients the next time," she said.
Trump's executive order states that there are "countless children" who regret undergoing this type of care.
A 2020 study in the Journal of Adolescent Health found that only about 2% of transgender youth expressed regret after receiving gender-affirming medical care.
"This care that they want to receive could be potentially life-saving," said Diaz. "Gender-affirming care is harm reduction ... it saves lives."
