While I know that legislating medicalization of minors is a hot mess, I can see the need for policy regarding medical treatments that are at best unproven in terms of long-term safety and benefit, and at worst horrifically harmful, given that the medical community seems unwilling and unable to look at the issue objectively in the US. Nothing seems to disrupt the direction of the major medical associations or the Biden administration’s blind, indiscriminate, and complete support for puberty blockers, cross-sex hormones, and sex reassignment surgery for children. We cannot depend upon ideological clinicians to provide parents with objective, unbiased information on which they can make truly informed decisions — Kaiser, despite inundating parents with dozens of links to “resources,” fails to mention that there is even the slightest controversy or data gap regarding blockers. Legislation requiring clinicians to provide evidence-based information to parents would be more than welcome, although I would never trust physicians to come up with this information on their own. That would need to be supplied (and updated), and you’d need a trustworthy research body to manage that, so maybe this is an equally absurd prospect, but I see it along the lines of consumer protection. I tend toward skepticism, but even I was initially swayed by the “pause button” idiocy. I might have made a different choice if the gender clinic had said, “We recommend this treatment, but it’s entirely experimental and it’s controversial. There’s no long-term data on this use of these drugs with this cohort nor on whether interrupting puberty is benign or at all reversible. Know that essentially 100% of kids put on blockers will go onto cross-sex hormones, which we also recommend regardless of your child’s mental health issues. Also, there is almost no chance that your child will stop treatment long enough to provide a sperm sample to preserve fertility, which is important because he may be permanently sterile after a few months on hormones. We just don’t know. In truth, we have no way of knowing who will or won’t benefit from treatment, but we recommend it anyway because patients seem to be initially happy.”
Who knows whether those parents inclined to consent to medicalization would be swayed one way or the other if they were given more truthful information in the face of external social pressure and influence, and their own internal biases, but their decisions should be based on fact. On that point, basic consumer protection laws should be expanded to cover gender-related medical treatments and enforced.
Lisa, what are we going to do to get a more nuanced understanding of the factors influencing the massive and unprecedented numbers of children and young adults choosing trans identities understood by our lawmakers?! The runaway train of belief that trans medicalization of minors is a civil right - and one that deserves to be rewarded with the socialized cost of medicine (I.e., forcing health insurers to fully pay for hormones and surgeries, no co-pays, etc) is out of control in our state legislatures and the US Congress! I am really scared for thousands of children and their families! We need a real counter-movement, and one that can’t easily be labeled as a bunch of right-wing transphobes. Legislatures are racing to protect abortion rights (which is great!), but they are larding those bills with pro-trans elements - and these will pass easily in most Blue states! And now, I just got word of this Fed bill in my email today: https://jayapal.house.gov/2022/06/28/jayapal-cicilline-newman-takano-torres-lead-members-in-introducing-the-trans-bill-of-rights/.
We need to build a coalition and convince the world there’s a much more nuanced consideration needed! We need leaders - what do we do?!!
"I realize that the medical associations that have blindly adopted gender-affirming care without considering why so many other countries are scrutinizing or abandoning it aren’t doing their duty. "
They are violating their oaths as physicians and should lose their licenses and go straight to jail.
And if the medical profession won't follow the evidence and safeguard children and young adults from the lies of these medical societies (they are lies), they need to be held responsible. They are destroying sexual organs and sexual functioning for these young people and giving them endocrine disorders, without even knowing who it might help, if anyone. Without even knowing outcomes. Doctors are given huge responsibility and trust in our society and these clinicians are violating it.
There is no excuse and the rest of the medical profession needs to call them out. Every doctor who remains silent....more children are having their body parts cut off and taking these drugs, every day. Every day you don't speak up, physicians. How many is it going to take?
Parents are screaming to be heard. The medical societies backing this should also be disgraced and stripped of authority. The AAP, APA, AMA. They couldn't even check the evidence behind medicalizing these children. And see it is not there. Children!
While I know that legislating medicalization of minors is a hot mess, I can see the need for policy regarding medical treatments that are at best unproven in terms of long-term safety and benefit, and at worst horrifically harmful, given that the medical community seems unwilling and unable to look at the issue objectively in the US. Nothing seems to disrupt the direction of the major medical associations or the Biden administration’s blind, indiscriminate, and complete support for puberty blockers, cross-sex hormones, and sex reassignment surgery for children. We cannot depend upon ideological clinicians to provide parents with objective, unbiased information on which they can make truly informed decisions — Kaiser, despite inundating parents with dozens of links to “resources,” fails to mention that there is even the slightest controversy or data gap regarding blockers. Legislation requiring clinicians to provide evidence-based information to parents would be more than welcome, although I would never trust physicians to come up with this information on their own. That would need to be supplied (and updated), and you’d need a trustworthy research body to manage that, so maybe this is an equally absurd prospect, but I see it along the lines of consumer protection. I tend toward skepticism, but even I was initially swayed by the “pause button” idiocy. I might have made a different choice if the gender clinic had said, “We recommend this treatment, but it’s entirely experimental and it’s controversial. There’s no long-term data on this use of these drugs with this cohort nor on whether interrupting puberty is benign or at all reversible. Know that essentially 100% of kids put on blockers will go onto cross-sex hormones, which we also recommend regardless of your child’s mental health issues. Also, there is almost no chance that your child will stop treatment long enough to provide a sperm sample to preserve fertility, which is important because he may be permanently sterile after a few months on hormones. We just don’t know. In truth, we have no way of knowing who will or won’t benefit from treatment, but we recommend it anyway because patients seem to be initially happy.”
Who knows whether those parents inclined to consent to medicalization would be swayed one way or the other if they were given more truthful information in the face of external social pressure and influence, and their own internal biases, but their decisions should be based on fact. On that point, basic consumer protection laws should be expanded to cover gender-related medical treatments and enforced.
Looking forward to your Year Zero post!
Lisa, what are we going to do to get a more nuanced understanding of the factors influencing the massive and unprecedented numbers of children and young adults choosing trans identities understood by our lawmakers?! The runaway train of belief that trans medicalization of minors is a civil right - and one that deserves to be rewarded with the socialized cost of medicine (I.e., forcing health insurers to fully pay for hormones and surgeries, no co-pays, etc) is out of control in our state legislatures and the US Congress! I am really scared for thousands of children and their families! We need a real counter-movement, and one that can’t easily be labeled as a bunch of right-wing transphobes. Legislatures are racing to protect abortion rights (which is great!), but they are larding those bills with pro-trans elements - and these will pass easily in most Blue states! And now, I just got word of this Fed bill in my email today: https://jayapal.house.gov/2022/06/28/jayapal-cicilline-newman-takano-torres-lead-members-in-introducing-the-trans-bill-of-rights/.
We need to build a coalition and convince the world there’s a much more nuanced consideration needed! We need leaders - what do we do?!!
"I realize that the medical associations that have blindly adopted gender-affirming care without considering why so many other countries are scrutinizing or abandoning it aren’t doing their duty. "
They are violating their oaths as physicians and should lose their licenses and go straight to jail.
And if the medical profession won't follow the evidence and safeguard children and young adults from the lies of these medical societies (they are lies), they need to be held responsible. They are destroying sexual organs and sexual functioning for these young people and giving them endocrine disorders, without even knowing who it might help, if anyone. Without even knowing outcomes. Doctors are given huge responsibility and trust in our society and these clinicians are violating it.
There is no excuse and the rest of the medical profession needs to call them out. Every doctor who remains silent....more children are having their body parts cut off and taking these drugs, every day. Every day you don't speak up, physicians. How many is it going to take?
Parents are screaming to be heard. The medical societies backing this should also be disgraced and stripped of authority. The AAP, APA, AMA. They couldn't even check the evidence behind medicalizing these children. And see it is not there. Children!