Stanford Medicine ends surgeries for transgender minors amid pressure from Trump administration

Clara Harter, Los Angeles Times on Jun 25, 2025

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LOS ANGELES — Stanford Medicine has stopped performing gender-affirming surgeries on patients younger than 19, joining Children's Hospital Los Angeles in scaling back healthcare for transgender youth amid growing political pressure from the Trump administration.

"After careful review of the latest actions and directives from the federal government and following consultations with clinical leadership, including our multidisciplinary LGBTQ+ program and its providers, Stanford Medicine paused providing gender-related surgical procedures as part of our comprehensive range of medical services for LGBTQ+ patients under the age of 19, effective June 2," Stanford Medicine said in a statement provided to The Times.

This announcement echoes a similar decision by Children's Hospital Los Angeles to shutter its longstanding healthcare program that serves around 3,000 transgender children and young adults on July 22.

Both medical facilities said that this was a tough decision made after a careful analysis of federal actions that impede healthcare providers' ability to offer transgender medical services to youth.

"We took this step to protect both our providers and patients," said Stanford Medicine in a statement. "This was not a decision we made lightly, especially knowing how deeply this impacts the individuals and families who depend on our essential care and support."

While CHLA is closing its entire Center for Transyouth Health and Development, Stanford will continue to operate the Stanford Pediatric and Adolescent Gender Clinic and offer other types of gender-affirming care outside of surgical procedures.

Stanford's clinic was founded in 2015 to provide medical services for gender-nonconforming youths, including hormone blockers and psychiatric support for children transitioning gender identities.

In January, Donald Trump issued an executive order that directs federal agencies to cut federal funding to healthcare providers that offer gender-affirming care to minors.

"It is the policy of the United States that it will not fund, sponsor, promote, assist, or support the so-called 'transition' of a child from one sex to another, and it will rigorously enforce all laws that prohibit or limit these destructive and life-altering procedures," states the executive order.

A federal judge blocked this order in March.

Federal agencies including the Department of Justice, the Department of Health and Human Services, and the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services have warned of strict consequences for doctors and hospitals providing care opposed by the administration.

In April, U.S. Atty. Gen. Pam Bondi issued a memorandum notifying medical providers that "female genital mutilation" is a felony, instructing the FBI to investigate potential criminal acts, and directing U.S. attorneys to prosecute such acts.

"These threats are no longer theoretical," Children's Hospital L.A. executives wrote in a June email to staff. "Taken together, the Attorney General memo, HHS review, and the recent solicitation of tips from the FBI to report hospitals and providers of GAC [gender-affirming care] 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."

Last week, the Supreme Court upheld Tennessee's ban on providing puberty blockers and hormone treatments for transgender teens. Similar laws are in effect in 23 other Republican-led states, all of which were enacted in the last four years. California continues to uphold the right for minors diagnosed with gender dysphoria to be prescribed puberty blockers and hormone treatment.