On Thursday, the Biden administration endorsed gender reassignment surgery and hormone treatments for children in a series of department documents.
The Department of Health and Human Services’ Office of Population Affairs released a two-page document titled, “Gender-Affirming Care and Young People,” which argued that “gender-affirming care improves the mental health and overall well-being of gender diverse children and adolescents.”
Forms of “affirming care” listed in the document included “puberty blockers,” “hormone therapy,” and “gender-affirming surgeries,” such as “top surgery,” “bottom surgery,” and “facial feminization or other procedures.”
The Department of Health and Human Services’ Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration’s National Child Traumatic Stress Network (NCTSN) also released a document, titled, “Gender-Affirming Care Is Trauma-Informed Care,” which claimed that “[t]here is no scientifically sound research showing negative impacts from providing gender-affirming care.”
Critics immediately slammed the Biden administration for what they deemed a dangerous and radical endorsement of potentially-irreversible treatments for children.
- “If you are tempted to believe my article here is exaggerating, lying, or in any way misconstruing the HHS’s trans children policies, I ask you click and read,” Fox News’ Timothy Nerozzi, who reported on the endorsement, wrote.
- “The only people who knows for a fact whether these interventions are ‘reversible’ are detransitioners. If you’re a parent or someone considering these interventions, do NOT listen to the White House’s misleading propaganda. Talk to detransitioners,” Abigail Shrier said.
- “The Biden administration is all but done: We have a President ignorant and vile enough to try to subvert parental rights,” Lou Dobbs responded.
- “Does the Biden administration really think they know better than parents?” Rep. Jody Hice asked.
- “This kind of ‘medical treatment’ renders children sterile,” Bethany Mandel tweeted.
- “The White House coming out in favor of mutilating children is the least surprising news item I’ve seen this presidency,” Scott Morefield tweeted.
- “This is child abuse,” Rep. Jeff Duncan replied.
Despite the Biden administration’s claims that “[t]here is no scientifically sound research showing negative impacts from providing gender-affirming care,” as reported by The Heritage Foundation, “The largest dataset on sex-reassignment procedures — both hormonal and surgical — reveals that such procedures do not bring the promised mental health benefits.”
Indeed, in the correction to the study discussed by The Heritage Foundation, patients who had reassignment surgeries had worse outcomes regarding anxiety disorders than those who did not:
…individuals diagnosed with gender incongruence who had received gender-affirming surgery were more likely to be treated for anxiety disorders compared with individuals diagnosed with gender incongruence who had not received gender-affirming surgery.
Ian Haworth is a writer for The Daily Wire and contributor to Morning Wire. Follow him on Twitter, Facebook, and YouTube.