(OPINION) Assistant Secretary for Health for the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Rachel Levine promised that medically changing kids’ genders will soon be normalized.
According to Fox News, Levine praised the “gender-affirming care” at the Pediatric Grand Rounds session at Connecticut Children’s Medical Center in Hartford. Levine was invited to speak at the event about the Florida Parental Rights in Education law and the political implications of gender reassignment surgery taking place at children’s hospitals.
Levine also said gender-affirming care for minors had the “highest support” of the Biden administration. “But I’m a positive and optimistic person, and I choose to be positive, optimistic. And I think that the wheels will turn on this,” Levine said.
“I think that it’s not going to be politically advantageous. It wasn’t particularly in 2022. And so I think that as we look to all the different elections in 2024, I think the next two years are going to be challenging. But I am positive and optimistic and hopeful that the wheel will turn after that and that this issue won’t be as politically and socially such a minefield.”
Dr. Stanley Goldfarb of Do No Harm organization, a national association of medical professionals that combats “woke” activism in the healthcare system, told Fox News Digital that there is “no good evidence that children treated with gender-altering hormones or puberty blockers improved mental health assessments.”
“Levine’s appearance at Connecticut Children’s Hospital praising ‘gender-affirming care’ for minors and claiming it will be fully embraced is wrong and must be countered,” Goldfarb said. “There is no good evidence that children treated with gender-altering hormones or puberty blockers have improved mental health assessments.”
“Despite assertions to the contrary, a recent study from the University of Washington showed that there was absolutely no change in the psychological well-being of children with gender dysphoria treated with these medications,” Goldfarb continued.
“There can be irrevocable harm being done to children by those pushing for these radical, ideologically driven, treatments. Treatment for minors needs to be based on rigorous scientific inquiry, not on dubious, agenda-driven studies or the demands of activists.”
Rep. Andy Harris, a member of the House Doctors Caucus and Co-Chair of the Pro-Life Caucus, said that it’s “reprehensible for a government official—let alone the Assistant U.S. Secretary of HHS to promote the genital mutilation of minors as becoming a standard practice in the U.S.”
“As a physician, I was proud to co-sponsor the ‘Protect Children’s Innocence Act’ which would prohibit harmful medical procedures used to treat gender dysphoria in transgender minors, including puberty blockers and surgeries in which minors alter their body to correspond to a sex that differs from their biological sex,” Harris said.
Harris went on to say, “Many pediatricians, particularly pediatric endocrinologists, have expressed serious concerns about the use of puberty blockers, hormone blockers, and sex transition surgeries in minors.
These doctors know that these medications and procedures can impact children’s bone growth, fertility, and risk of breast and prostate cancer. Meanwhile, HHS has pressured providers to provide this care or else face discrimination lawsuits. We must protect our children.”
