Children’s Hospital Los Angeles (CHLA) announced that it will close its transgender center by July 22.
“There is no doubt that this is a painful and significant change to our organization and a challenge to CHLA’s mission, vision, and values,” the hospital wrote in an email to staff, obtained by The Los Angeles Times.
The email claimed that the Trump administration has threatened to prosecute doctors engaging in gender-affirming treatment for minors.
“These threats are no longer theoretical,” the email said. “Taken together, the Attorney General memo, HHS review, and the recent solicitation of tips from the FBI to report hospitals and providers of GAC strongly signal this Administration’s intent to take swift and decisive action, both criminal and civil, against any entity it views as being in violation of the executive order.”
“CHLA has a responsibility to navigate this complex and uncertain regulatory environment in a way that allows us to remain open as much as possible for as many as possible,” it read. “In the end, this painful and difficult decision was driven by the need to safeguard CHLA’s ability to operate amid significant external pressures beyond our control.”
A statement from the website confirms the closure of the transgender care programs. “Center team members were heartbroken to learn of the decision from hospital leaders, who emphasized that it was not made lightly, but followed a thorough legal and financial assessment of the increasingly severe impacts of recent administrative actions and proposed policies,” the statement says.
In April, Attorney General Pam Bondi released a memo directing Justice Department employees to “enforce rigorous protections and hold accountable those who prey on vulnerable children and their parents,” noting that the directive supports President Trump’s executive order protecting children from chemical and surgical mutilation.
