Late last week, the Biden administration came out with a statement claiming that it does not support so-called “gender-affirming” surgery for minors.
The statement came in response to an article from The New York Times reporting that the Biden administration pressured a transgender health organization to remove age restrictions for sex reassignment surgery from its treatment guidelines for minors.
The pressure to remove age minimums for surgery was spearheaded by U.S. Adm. Rachel Levine, who is transgender, and his staff. Emails showing this were shared by the Times. Here’s what the Biden administration said in response (via NYT):
“Adm. Levine shared her view with her staff that publishing the proposed lower ages for gender transition surgeries was not supported by science or research, and could lead to an onslaught of attacks on the transgender community,” an H.H.S. spokesman said in a statement on Friday evening.
Federal officials did not elaborate further on the administration’s position regarding the scientific research or on Adm. Levine’s role in having the age minimums removed.
The administration, which has been supportive of gender-affirming care for transgender youth, expressed opposition only to surgeries for minors, not other treatments.
Last week, Townhall covered how Levine’s pressured the World Professional Association for Transgender Health to remove age limits for so-called “gender-affirming” surgeries for transgender minors.
The New York Times reported that the Biden administration believed that age minimums on this kind of treatment could “fuel growing political opposition to such treatments.”
One email excerpt from an unnamed member of the WPATH guideline development group recalled that they had a conversation with Levine’s chief of staff, Sarah Boateng. They wrote, “She is confident, based on the rhetoric she is hearing in D.C., and from what we have already seen, that these specific listings of ages, under 18, will result in devastating legislation for trans care. She wonders if the specific ages can be taken out.”
Another email claimed that Levine “was very concerned that having ages (mainly for surgery) will affect access to care for trans youth and maybe adults, too. Apparently the situation in the U.S.A. is terrible and she and the Biden administration worried that having ages in the document will make matters worse. She asked us to remove them.”
A fact sheet from the White House on “Transgender Day of Visibility” in 2022 showed that the Biden administration was committed to “advancing equality” for transgender Americans, including children. One way this was done was by “providing resources for transgender kids and their families” through tax dollars.
According to the fact sheet, tax dollars are used to provide mental health resources to help “trans” children, expand training at schools to “support transgender and nonbinary students,” and to confirm “positive impact of gender affirming care on youth mental health,” which includes sex change surgeries (via The White House):
The National Child Traumatic Stress Network (NCTSN), which is administered by the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, is releasing new information for providers confirming that providing gender-affirming care is neither child maltreatment nor malpractice.
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The Office of the Assistant Secretary for Health has developed a resource to inform parents and guardians, educators, and other persons supporting children and adolescents with information on what is gender-affirming care and why it is important to transgender, nonbinary, and other gender expansive young people’s well-being.