United States Assistant Secretary for Health for the U.S. Department of Health and Human Service (HHS), Rachel Levine, who is a biological male living as a woman, brushed off critics of new federal guidance promoting “gender-affirming” health care for minors.
The New York Post reported that Levine criticized states like Texas and Florida for pushing guidance against gender-affirming health care for children. Levine said that medical professionals support children obtaining this type of treatment, which includes puberty blockers, hormone therapy treatment, and sex reassignment surgery.
“There is no argument among medical professionals – pediatricians, pediatric endocrinologists, adolescent medicine physicians, adolescent psychiatrists, psychologists, etc. – about the value and the importance of gender-affirming care,” Levine told NPR.
Senior Biden health official Rachel Levine says 'there is no argument' among medical professionals on 'gender affirming care' for children. Administration defines such care as puberty blockers, hormones, and surgery. From @NPR https://t.co/gm5BKzgUaL pic.twitter.com/v5q9QAmDeg
— Byron York (@ByronYork) May 2, 2022
Levine’s comments came after Florida’s Department of Health released guidance on against providing “transgender” minors with “gender-affirming” care, including letting minors “socially” transition. The guidance, pushed by Florida Surgeon General Joseph Ladapo, came as a response to a fact sheet released by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services regarding transgender youth and a parallel document released by the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration's National Child Traumatic Stress Network, which I covered last month.
“Levine dismissed Ladopo’s stance in the NPR interview and said he was motivated by political rather than medical imperatives,” the Post reported.
In a news release published last month, Florida Surgeon General Joseph Ladapo said “the federal government’s medical establishment releasing guidance "[failed] at the most basic level of academic rigor shows that this was never about health care."
“It was about injecting political ideology into the health of our children. Children experiencing gender dysphoria should be supported by family and seek counseling, not pushed into an irreversible decision before they reach 18,” he added.