Nurses represented by California Nurses Association/National Nurses Organizing Committee (CNA/NNOC) are today shaming Kaiser Permanente, one of the country’s largest health care systems, for their decision to suspend some gender-affirming care services for patients under 19. CNA/NNOC is an affiliate of National Nurses United (NNU), the country’s largest nursing union, and represents nearly 25,000 nurses at Kaiser facilities.

“This is pre-emptively giving in to government overreach in health care,” said Lady Rainsard, RN in plastic surgery at Kaiser San Francisco. “Medical providers, not politicians, know what’s best for our patients. Gender-affirming care is safe and effective. As nurses, we always follow the precautionary principle, and we always advocate for our patients. Right now, we deem it a much greater risk to cave to this kind of government overreach than it is to provide this care to our patients, no matter their age.”

NNU has repeatedly opposed restrictions on gender-affirming care based on its efficacy for patients. Nurses believe that politically targeting patients like this complicates and hinders care at the bedside. NNU has spoken out against the presidential executive order seeking to bar patients’ access to this care, as well as Supreme Court decisions seeking to restrict care and attempts to end the provision of gender-affirming care to veterans through the Veterans Administration (VA).

“We believe our hospitals should be sanctuary spaces for our patients to come and get the care they need, and we’ll always advocate for their safety,” said Sydney Simpson, RN in interventional radiology at Kaiser San Francisco. “No one should have to fear coming to a hospital. But when corporations pre-emptively comply with these restrictions, they enable and empower political attacks on health care for vulnerable populations.”

California Nurses Association/National Nurses United is the largest and fastest-growing union and professional association of registered nurses in the nation with more than 100,000 members in more than 200 facilities throughout California and more than 225,000 RNs nationwide.