Closing pediatric gender clinics is a game of whack-a-mole as they reopen independently under new names
Source: Chris Bray. "Sex-Rejecting Facilities For Kids Are Re-Opening Under New Names." October 15, 2026. thefederalist.com
The Gist
The author argues that cutting off federal money and pressuring hospitals isn't actually ending gender treatment for kids. When one clinic gets shut down, it reopens under a new name at the same address, and California is setting up its own pot of money to replace the federal funds. He says it's now unclear how this fight ends.
Conclusion
Government pressure on pediatric gender clinics (federal funding cuts, legal action, hospital closures) is not by itself ending these practices, because shuttered clinics reopen as independent operations under new names and may be re-funded by state programs. Whether these procedures for minors can be ended remains an open question.
Premises
- Johanna Olson-Kennedy's Pasadena clinic was closed at the end of September 2026 after its parent corporation switched to adults-only care, and it was her second forced closure in two years after Children's Hospital Los Angeles closed her first practice in 2025.
- The Pasadena office reopened within days at the same address under a new name, Axiana Youth Care, with a new sign on the same door.
- Federal pressure, including Trump's January 2025 executive order and an aggressive DOJ legal effort, has led hospitals nationwide to agree to close their pediatric gender programs.
- California is ending Medi-Cal funding for these procedures in line with federal guidance but is replacing it with $66 million in state-only grant funds, including $10 million specifically designated for providers of such procedures for minors.
- Clinics that lose mainstream medical affiliation simply go independent, run by committed advocates who refuse to quit, so the closures of institutional programs do not end the practice.
Assumptions
- A rebranded, independent clinic at the same address is continuing the same pediatric gender interventions rather than offering only adult or non-medical services.
- Reopening under a new name is evidence of evasion rather than a legal restructuring or a change in services.
- Olson-Kennedy's case is representative of what is happening to pediatric gender facilities generally.
- Ending pediatric gender procedures is the appropriate policy goal, and closure or defunding is the proper means of achieving it.
- State funding in California will actually reach clinics like Axiana, even though none has been distributed yet.
- Legal and regulatory pressure will not reach independent clinics as effectively as it reached hospital-affiliated ones.