After insiders at Vanderbilt University Medical Center told The Daily Wire that they fear transgender surgeries on minors would eventually resume, host Matt Walsh affirmed why states need to create laws to ban such practices.
Walsh said during an interview Wednesday with Fox News host Tucker Carlson that places like Vanderbilt have become a “hub” for the sexual mutilation of children, which recently stopped the procedures following a videotape uncovered by The Daily Wire host exposing the practices. However, a recent report from three sources at the institution said the moment the public relieves pressure — the “liberal-led” university would continue to push them through.
“They will if they can get away with it, which is why we can’t rely on these institutions to police themselves,” Walsh said.
Walsh called on lawmakers to create legislation prohibiting doctors from performing procedures classified as so-called “gender-affirming care.”
“There have to be laws now — and I think most Americans, when they hear about this, are shocked to find out that there aren’t already laws banning doctors from doing cosmetic double mastectomies on teenage girls or sterilizing and castrating kids.”
United States Assistant Secretary for Health Rachel Levine has recently made headlines after slamming laws that would dictate when children could begin receiving “a range of medical treatments and evaluations … of people who are transgender and transgender youth.”
“And we do not need state laws and actions that dictate principles of transgender medical care by us pediatric experts,” Levine said.
However, Levine has faced backlash from medical professionals that have challenged the idea that “treatments and evaluations” like puberty blockers or cross-sex hormones are medically necessary and safe for minors.
Florida’s Department of Health has stated that conducting those procedures on minors lacked “conclusive evidence” and could lead to potential “long-term, irreversible effects.”
Puberty blockers, known as gonadotropin-releasing hormone (GnRH) substances, received a warning from U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) officials earlier this year, saying the drug could cause brain swelling, loss of vision, and serious risks for children being injected with the hormone.
Officials said a plausible association between using puberty blockers and pseudotumor cerebri, which displays symptoms similar to a brain tumor, was identified in six young girls between the ages of five and 12. Symptoms in the patients included visual disturbances, headaches, and vomiting. Other effects GnRH agonists caused were an increase in blood pressure, brain swelling, and abducens neuropathy.
Institutions like Vanderbilt would be free to resume gender surgeries on children if a law weren’t in place.
But Walsh has charged supporters to fight for the protection of children’s health, to call on state legislators to implement laws and guardrails preventing institutions from performing irreversible procedures.
“The fact that Vanderbilt was even willing to put a pause on these procedures is an example of pressure from the Right, causing a left-wing institution to cave at least temporarily, which is significant in its own right,” Walsh said. “But of course, we’re not going to just rely on them to continue on their own.”
On Friday, Walsh is hosting the “Rally to End Child Mutilation” in Nashville, Tennessee, at the state Capitol. Speakers will include Sen. Marsha Blackburn (R-TN), state Senator Jack Johnson, and state Rep. William Lamberth. Former congresswoman, Democratic Party member, and presidential candidate Tulsi Gabbard has also recently joined the list of speakers for Friday’s rally.
Join @MattWalshBlog this Friday at 4pm for the Rally to End Child Mutilation.
Let us know you're coming! RSVP here: https://t.co/Mp2gBrBniv pic.twitter.com/lwFpnCjlb7
— Daily Wire (@realDailyWire) October 20, 2022