Late last week, the American College of Pediatricians (ACP) and other health policy groups and conservative organizations called on medical professionals to stop providing so-called “gender-affirming” care for children.
The ACP and other groups, which will go by “Doctors Protecting Children,” published a declaration on their stance.
“As physicians, together with nurses, psychotherapists and behavioral health clinicians, other health professionals, scientists, researchers, and public health and policy professionals, we have serious concerns about the physical and mental health effects of the current protocols promoted for the care of children and adolescents in the United States who express discomfort with their biological sex,” the declaration states.
In addition, the declaration asserts that medical decisions “should not be based upon an individual's thoughts and feelings," including what they feel their “gender identity” is.
On Twitter, the ACP shared remarks from Dr. Karl Benzio of the American Association of Christian Counselors (AACC), who pointed that other countries are moving away from gender-affirming care for kids.
“We always knew gender confusion, dysphoria, dissonance and evasion was a manifestation of deeper psychological struggles. These struggles usually emanate from dysfunctional or misinterpreted relational dynamics with parents, siblings and peers, from being victims of abuse…or having compromised social skills,” he explained.
“After implementing GAT, many countries have realized that GAT not only ignores the underlying psychological issues, but it also inflicts a host of new ones,” he added. “England, Finland, Denmark, Sweden are reversing their GAT positions and advocating for the more successful standard of care: psychiatric evaluation and treatment."
"England, Finland, Denmark, Sweden are reversing their GAT positions and advocating for the more successful standard of care: psychiatric evaluation and treatment." Dr. Karl Benzio @theaacc. Sign the declaration today at https://t.co/fcWgwBExnp pic.twitter.com/FQqcJaibbp
— The American College of Pediatricians (@ACPeds) June 8, 2024
“To protect the health and dignity of millions of children, medical associations, health care professionals, health care entities, and government health care programs at the state and federal level must stop promoting and providing unethical and harmful so-called gender affirming procedures,” Louis Brown of the Catholic Health Care Leadership Alliance added.
“The American health care system is ethically obligated to provide children with medical care that is healing, medically and scientifically credible, and leads to true human flourishing.”
"Every child deserves ethical medical care that protects each child's life, health, and human dignity." Louis Brown for the @TheCHCLA. Sign the declaration today at https://t.co/fcWgwBF5cX pic.twitter.com/DgBN3EYkay
— The American College of Pediatricians (@ACPeds) June 8, 2024
As Townhall has covered, groups like the American Medical Association (AMA) and the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) have gone the opposite direction and promote this type of care, though the rest of the world appears to be regressing.
This year, England sent shockwaves around the world when its National Health Service (NHS) announced that children will no longer be prescribed puberty blockers, which Townhall covered. This bold move came after Dr. Hilary Cass, a pediatrician, published a review into the support and treatment offered to children who think they’re born with the wrong gender. She concluded that so-called “gender-affirming” care for kids is built on “shaky foundations.”
Shortly after, the NHS announced it would go a step further and review all transgender treatments for children. And, Cass said that she believes that medical groups in the United States are misleading the public about transgender health care, especially as it pertains to children, which Townhall also covered.
Last year, Dr. Rittakerttu Kaltiala, one of Finland’s top experts on pediatric gender medicine, said in an interview with Helsingin Sanomat, the country’s top subscription newspaper, that “four out of five” children who believe that their biological sex does not align with their gender identity will eventually grow out of their gender confusion in their teenage years.
"The young person tries out different identities and is prone to suggestion. In one situation he feels that he is one and in another another. It's normal in adolescence,” Kaltiala said. In the interview, she slammed the argument that transgender people will commit suicide if they do not have access to treatment.
"It is not justified to tell the parents of young people experiencing transgenderism that without corrective treatment the young person is at risk of suicide without corrective treatment and that the danger can be countered with gender reassignment treatment,” she said.