OAKLAND, Calif. – Attorney General Rob Bonta is challenging two Trump Administration proposals that would restrict gender-affirming care for minors, warning that the rules could sharply reduce access to medically necessary treatment and interfere with state-protected healthcare rights, according to a news release from the California Department of Justice (DOJ).
According to the DOJ, Attorney General Bonta issued a statement opposing the proposals that would further limit gender-affirming care for minors.
The proposals target both federal healthcare funding and healthcare providers who offer gender-affirming care.
The DOJ reports that Attorney General Bonta criticized the new proposals as part of a broader pattern of federal interference in healthcare decisions.
“These proposed rules are the Trump Administration’s latest attempt to strip Americans of the care they need to live as their authentic selves,” Attorney General Bonta stated.
The first of the two proposals, the Medicaid and CHIP Reimbursement Rule, would prohibit Medicaid from covering gender-affirming care for individuals under the age of 18 and restrict CHIP coverage for individuals under the age of 19.
The DOJ explains that this rule would eliminate federal reimbursement for medically necessary gender-affirming health care and services that are currently available to minors through these programs.
The second proposal, known as the “Condition of Participation” Rule, would bar healthcare providers who provide services and perform gender-affirming care on minors from participating in Medicaid and Medicare programs.
According to the DOJ, this restriction would effectively exclude providers from two major federal healthcare systems, even if they are compliant with state law and medical standards.
The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) is required to accept public comments on the proposed rules for a 60-day period, notes the DOJ.
After this period, HHS may issue final rules that take effect just 60 days later unless legal action by the court prevents them from being implemented.
Attorney General Bonta stressed that California is prepared to challenge any final rules that share a similar sentiment, emphasizing that “if the Trump Administration puts forth final rules similar to these proposals, we stand ready to use every tool in our toolbox to prevent them from ever going into effect,” reports the DOJ.
Gender-affirming care remains protected under California law, notes the DOJ.
State statutes, such as the Unruh Civil Rights Act and Government Code section 11135, prohibit discrimination based on sexual orientation or gender identity, including in the provision of healthcare services.
The DOJ further explains that refusing medically necessary care to transgender individuals while offering the same services to cisgender individuals constitutes unlawful discrimination.
Patients who seek gender-affirming care, as well as the doctors and staff who provide it, are protected under state law.
California’s Medicaid program, Medi-Cal, continues to cover such gender-affirming care for minors, the DOJ confirms.
Attorney General Bonta’s opposition to the proposed rules builds on his previous efforts to protect access to gender-affirming care, highlights the DOJ.
Earlier this month, Bonta joined a coalition of 20 attorneys general in filing an amicus brief opposing a U.S. Department of Justice subpoena seeking private medical records related to gender-affirming care at Children’s Hospital Colorado.
The DOJ reports that in October, Attorney General Bonta similarly filed amicus briefs opposing subpoenas targeting Boston Children’s Hospital and Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia.
In August, he co-led a multistate lawsuit challenging a Trump Administration executive order that threatened providers of gender-affirming care for individuals under 19 with civil and criminal prosecution, adds the DOJ.
According to the California Department of Justice, the proposed rules remain under review and have not yet taken effect.
Attorney General Bonta reiterated that California is prepared to challenge any of the Trump Administration’s efforts to unlawfully restrict access to healthcare that is otherwise protected under state law.
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