A coalition of pediatricians, health policy groups and conservative organizations is calling on medical professionals to stop promoting transgender medical treatments for children.
The American College of Pediatricians (ACP) and allied groups billing themselves as “doctors protecting children” issued a statement urging major U.S. medical associations like the American Academy of Pediatrics to abandon their support for so-called “child care.” of gender affirmation” for young transgender people. .
“As physicians, as well as nurses, psychotherapists and behavioral health clinicians, other health professionals, scientists, researchers, and public health and policy professionals, we are seriously concerned about the physical and mental health effects of current protocols promoted for the care of children and adolescents in the United States who express discomfort with their biological sex,” the statement said.
Arguing that sex is a biological characteristic and that medical decisions “should not be based on an individual’s thoughts and feelings,” including their self-proclaimed “gender identity,” the groups say what is currently accepted as best practices for treating gender dysphoria is actually harmful to patients. Their view is contested by the medical community at large, which has established that gender is a social construct and not an innate biological reality, and that validating and affirming a person’s internal identity is in his best interest.
“GENDER AFFIRMATION” TREATMENTS DO NOT BENEFIT YOUNG PEOPLE, SAYS GROUP OF PEDITRICIANS: “IRREVERSIBLE CONSEQUENCES”
A coalition called Physicians Protecting Children says puberty blockers, transgender hormone treatments and other “gender-affirming care” for transgender children and adolescents lack evidence demonstrating their effectiveness as treatments for gender dysphoria. gender. (AdobeStock)
The American Medical Association (AMA), for example, states on its website that “improving access to gender-affirming care is an important way to improve health outcomes for the transgender population.
“Receipt of gender-affirming care has been associated with dramatic reductions in rates of suicide attempts, decreased rates of depression and anxietydecreased substance use, improved adherence to anti-HIV medications, and reduced rates of harmful use of self-prescribed hormones,” says the APA.
The federal government, through the Department of Health and Human Services, also supports transgender medical procedures for children and adolescents, calling them “a form of supportive health care that may include medical, surgical, mental health and non-medical services for transgender and non-binary people. people.”
“Research demonstrates that gender-affirming care improves the mental health and overall well-being of gender-diverse children and adolescents,” said HHS’s Office of Demographic Affairs (OASH).
However, several European countries, including the United Kingdom, Sweden, Finland, Norway and France, have pushed back…
