Families Sue Rady Over Gender-Affirming Care Halt

Four San Diego-area families filed a class action lawsuit Thursday against Rady Children's Health, alleging the health system violated state civil rights laws by discontinuing gender-affirming care for transgender minors. The complaint, lodged in San Diego County Superior Court, claims the decision discriminated against patients based on sex, gender identity and disability, affecting roughly 1,900 children who relied on the system's gender clinic.

The suit seeks to prevent Rady Children's Health and its subsidiaries from ending transgender health services and requests damages for harms including canceled appointments, denied access to medications such as hormone therapy and resulting emotional distress. According to the complaint, the health system singled out transgender patients and terminated their care without consent, disregarding impacts on physical and mental health.

Rady Children's Health, which operates hospitals in San Diego, Orange and Imperial counties, announced in late January that it would cease providing gender-affirming care to minors. The decision followed actions by the Trump administration, which has described such procedures as chemical and surgical...