Judge will consider dire counterclaims in Rady gender care case

Just how big is the risk that Rady Children’s Health will lose all federal funding if the court grants a temporary restraining order forcing the medical provider to resume gender-affirming care in San Diego and Orange counties?

This is the central question before San Diego Superior Court Judge Matthew Braner on Wednesday as he parses a request from California Attorney General Rob Bonta that would force Southern California’s largest provider of specialty care for children to continue providing gender-affirming medical procedures and medications to its patients.

Citing nationwide threats to Medicare and Medicaid funding, Rady announced on Jan. 20 that it would immediately stop doing gender-related surgeries and administering medications, such as hormone treatments that block puberty for its patients younger than age 19.

The decision elicited protests from families whose children were receiving care at Rady’s gender clinic and from the broader advocacy community that has fought for many years to establish such services in San Diego.

Bonta sued Rady Jan. 30, alleging that the medical provider violated the conditions of his approval of a merger agreement betwe...