San Diego County Superior Court Judge Matthew Braner ruled last week that Rady Children’s Health must resume all so-called “gender-affirming care.” The decision threatens Rady’s funding, as the ruling contrasts with the Trump administration’s directive that gender services cease.
A declaration from Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. details that “current medical evidence does not support a favorable risk/benefit profile for using these interventions to treat pediatric gender dysphoria.”
“Right at this moment, I see kids at risk suffering relative degrees of harm,” Braner said, as reported by NBC 7 San Diego. “Whereas at this moment, I see the existential threat to Rady of losing funding that’s going to affect 800,000 patients is just that: a threat. It’s a threat that might become a reality, but it is not yet at that stage.”
Jason Strabo, an attorneys representing Rady, told the judge that the hospital faced a “catastrophic risk” of losing federal funding.
California Attorney General Rob Bonta filed a lawsuit against Rady last month, arguing that its decision violates its merger agreement with Children’s Hospital of Orange County.
“Rady Children’s Health has chosen to violate its merger agreement and California law in response to the Trump Administration’s illegal campaign against providers of gender-affirming care,” Bonta said in a statement at the time of filing the lawsuit. “Rady flagrantly disregarded its legal obligations by unilaterally deciding to preemptively comply with the Administration’s demands and cease medically necessary care for roughly 1,450 patients. We will not allow Rady to violate its obligations to its patients and the State. We will fight to uphold the law and ensure Californians can access gender-affirming care without facing unfair roadblocks.”
