The Biden administration has been asked to produce documentation on why it supports chemical and surgical child sex change treatments.
The Florida Agency for Healthcare Administration (AHCA) is seeking information from the Biden administration on its policies related to gender transition and “gender-affirming” care. The AHCA submitted Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) requests to both the Department of Justice (DOJ) and Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) asking for documents on the Biden administration’s transgender health care policies.
The agency is currently a defendant in a lawsuit over a state rule that prohibits Medicaid funds from being used for “gender-affirming” care, which includes hormone therapy and sex reassignment surgery.
According to documents reviewed by The Daily Caller, the AHCA is seeking information not only about the Medicaid lawsuit, but also about the state’s guidance for the treatment of children with gender dysphoria and the state’s accepted medical standards for treating gender dysphoria. The documents reportedly state that sex reassignment procedures lack evidence of being effective treatments for gender dysphoria, especially for children.
The AHCA requested records from the DOJ related to a March 31, 2022, letter from Assistant Attorney General Kristen Clarke to all state attorneys general, urging states to comply with the Biden administration’s priorities on transgender rights and treatment regulations. The agency also requested records from HHS about a March 2, 2022, notice on gender-affirming care and civil rights, which threatened legal action against entities that discriminate against transgender individuals.
The AHCA also requested records on any ongoing or pending litigation related to gender dysphoria and any communications with the American Academy of Pediatrics, the Endocrine Society, or the World Professional Association for Transgender Health. The state of Florida recently won a ruling from a district court ordering the AAP to turn over documents explaining why it supports gender transitions for minors after the state subpoenaed several organizations for documents on their gender dysphoria policies last month.
The order was the latest development in the case, brought by transgender rights groups with the backing of the medical groups and Yale that are suing Florida, arguing its ban on Medicaid covering sex change treatments violates the Equal Protection Clause of the U.S. Constitution.
The plaintiffs sought a preliminary injunction against the Medicaid ban, but the request was denied in October. Judge Robert Hinkle ruled that the ban did not violate constitutional rights, but instead would be determined by the Medicaid statute.
In the United States, children are put in the driver’s seat of their own sex change operations, despite the fact that a body of research indicates that roughly 60–90% of children who identify as transgender, but who do not socially or medically transition, will no longer identify as transgender in adulthood and many will grow up to be gay and lesbian adults. The “gender-affirming” model of care discourages therapy that could help minors feel more comfortable in their bodies and instead provides puberty blockers, cross-sex hormones, and surgeries to “affirm” minors in their chosen trans-identity.
Despite the emerging data that Americans are reluctant to cosign onto medically transitioning minors, President Biden has repeatedly doubled down on allowing minors full access to medical interventions and chastised Republican-led efforts to limit access to chemical and surgical child sex change treatments, calling the GOP “immoral.”