Kaiser pausing gender-affirming surgeries for patients 19 years old and under

SAN FRANCISCO (KGO) -- Kaiser Permanente says it will begin a pause on gender-affirming surgeries on Aug. 29.

Kaiser is the latest health care provider to make the change in recent months amid pressure from the federal government.

ABC7 News talked with both supporters and opponents of the move.

The health care giant says the difficult decision was influenced by recent events.

In a statement, Kaiser says in part: "Since January, there has been significant focus by the federal government on gender-affirming care, specifically for patients under the age of 19. This has included executive orders instructing federal agencies to take actions to curtail access and restrict funding for gender-affirming care..."

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News of the pause angered some of the company's staff, including nurse Sydney Simpson.

"Kids who have potentially been on this surgery list for years being dropped. Kids who have been waiting for these surgeries finally feel like for the first time in their lives feel like they are living," Simpson said.

Simpson and others say they worry about Kaiser following a trend of denying more and more medical treatments for transgender people.

Aria Villajin is a trans activist in the Bay Area. She believes Kaiser's new policy will hurt trans kids and their families.

"The only people who should be involved in making these decisions are the patients and their doctors," Villajin said.

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Others agree with Kaiser's pause.

Jamie Reed is the co-executive director of the group LGB Courage Coalition.

"Kids cannot consent to something that is as permanent as having healthy body tissues removed," Reed said.

Reed said Kaiser joins a growing number of organizations around the country in scaling back gender-affirming surgeries, especially for minors. She hopes the company will expand their pause beyond just surgeries in the future.

"We want them to look at this across the entire lifespan of these kids and recognize that this whole protocol is the issue in its entirety, and it all needs to stop," Reed said.

Simpson says nurses in San Francisco plan to hold a vigil tomorrow in protest of Kaiser's decision.