Trans Health Official Claims ALL Pediatricians Agree on ‘Gender-Affirming Care,’ Which Simply Isn’t True – Opinion

Four-star admiral and Assistant Secretary for Health Rachel Levine, the highest transgender official to serve in the US Government, claimed in remarks shared Saturday with NPR that all pediatricians agree on “gender-affirming care,” which can include puberty-blocking drugs all the way up to non-reversible surgical procedures.

There is no argument among medical professionals – pediatricians, pediatric endocrinologists, adolescent medicine physicians, adolescent psychiatrists, psychologists, etc. – about the value and the importance of gender-affirming care.

NEW: Biden admin transgender terrorist attacks parents and legislators who seek to protect children against radical ideology, which can include hormone treatments and surgery. https://t.co/KDDORLekMX #FoxNews

— Tom Fitton (@TomFitton) May 1, 2022

Evidently, everyone is not on the same page.

In a new fact sheet, the US Department of Health defines this phrase:

Gender-affirming healthcare is an example of a supportive form of healthcare. This includes a range of services, including medical, surgical and mental health services.

Early gender affirming treatment is essential for transgender children and teens. It allows them to concentrate on their social transitions, and it can also help with their navigation of the healthcare system.

There is in fact plenty of debate about the efficacy and safety of “gender-affirming” care, especially for the young, and to say otherwise is a flat-out falsehood. It’s a preposterous statement given that the Florida State Department of Health recently came to the opposite conclusion, issuing its own guidance on April 20 which is completely at odds with Levine’s takeaways. In Florida’s view:

• Social gender transition should not be a treatment option for children or adolescents.
• Anyone under 18 should not be prescribed puberty blockers or hormone therapy.
• Gender reassignment surgery should not be a treatment option for children or adolescents.
• Based on the currently available evidence, “encouraging mastectomy, ovariectomy, uterine extirpation, penile disablement, tracheal shave, the prescription of hormones which are out of line with the genetic make-up of the child, or puberty blockers, are all clinical practices which run an unacceptably high risk of doing harm.”
• Children and adolescents should be provided social support by peers and family and seek
Counseling from licensed providers

The Sunshine State asserts that it’s making these recommendations based on studies and recommendations from Sweden, Finland, the United Kingdom, and France. Levine quickly dismissed their views as being “based upon political considerations” and “not appropriate.”

There many are other critics of gender-affirming care, including Abigail Shrier, author of the book “It is irreversible harm: Transgender Crazy Seducing Our Daughters” which was banned from Target for a time. She wrote:

Until just a few years ago, gender dysphoria—severe discomfort in one’s biological sex—was vanishingly rare. This condition, which was less than 0.01 percent common, first appeared in childhood and affected males nearly exclusively.

But today whole groups of female friends in colleges, high schools, and even middle schools across the country are coming out as “transgender.” These are girls who had never experienced any discomfort in their biological sex until they heard a coming-out story from a speaker at a school assembly or discovered the internet community of trans “influencers.”

Unsuspecting parents are awakening to find their daughters in thrall to hip trans YouTube stars and “gender-affirming” educators and therapists who push life-changing interventions on young girls—including medically unnecessary double mastectomies and puberty blockers that can cause permanent infertility.

Then there’s the website, Sex Change Regret, where people who are remorseful over their transitions come to share their stories. Many of them feel they were pushed to transition by doctors and medical health professionals, and they’d like to see the subject viewed through the lens of science, not activism. The site claims that up to 20% of transitioners “have regrets.”

The American Academy of Pediatrics has released a 2018 report that details the issues the Biden administration appears to ignore:

Moreover, while data describing gender-affirming treatments are encouraging and there are obvious risks to not treating TGNC teens with gender dysphoria, very little information is available about long-term consequences of hormonal and surgical intervention in this population.

People may find Gender Transitions and Gender Affirmation useful. Dr. Levine seems happy and successful, and that’s all good. When we’re talking about life-changing decisions being made by the very young, however, it’s ludicrous to say “everyone agrees” or the “science is settled.” Whenever the left utters either of those phrases, they mean, shut up and don’t ask questions.

Concerning hormonal blockers or irreversible surgical procedures, all questions should be asked. The long-term consequences should also be evaluated. Continuous rigorous research is required. Dr. Levine is plain wrong—there is no consensus on gender-confirming care for the young. There is plenty of debate as it should.