The Supreme Court will hear a case next month challenging a Tennessee law that prohibits doctors from performing gender transition surgery and related procedures on minors.
Tennessee passed the law last year banning children from receiving hormone therapy, puberty blockers, and gender-altering surgery. Those suing say that transgender patients must have the right to these interventions. The Biden administration claims the law violates the constitutional right of equal protection, but child advocates disagree, saying the procedures are harmful.
"We know based on research, based on clinical practice, based on growing international consensus, that these interventions for minors are not based on any credible evidence that the benefits outweigh the risks. There are a growing number of teenagers and young adults who say that they have been harmed," Dr. Leor Sapir of the Manhattan Institute says.
Sapir says he hopes the case (United States vs. Skrmetti) will expose what he calls the Biden administration's "extreme" and dangerous transgender agenda when it comes to surgeries for kids.
"They eliminated age minimums from their standard of care recommendations under pressure from Dr. Rachel Levine, the Assistant Secretary for Health at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services," Sapir said.
"This is an opportunity for the court to put an end to this nonsense," Ed Whelan of the Ethics and Public Policy Center said.
He notes that the World Professional Association for Transgender Health (WPATH) did propose age minimums for trans surgery. A recommendation that Levine, a trans-gender male, refused. "Levine said, no, that would be politically disastrous for us. Take them out. and that's what ended up happening," Whelan said.
The Justice Department joined a Nashville teenager, his parents, and the ACLU, arguing the state law discriminates on the basis of transgender status and violates the Equal Protection Clause of the 14th Amendment.
"If the court can announce that we are not protected under the Constitution, it can and will do that for everyone," ACLU attorney Chase Stangio said. "The movements that are targeting trans people currently are pushing the false narrative that it is harmful to be trans," he claims.
In a statement, Sabrina Williams the mother of the transgender boy who identifies as a girl said, "We don't want to leave Tennessee, but this legislation would force us to either routinely leave our state to get our daughter the medical care she desperately needs or to uproot our entire lives and leave Tennessee altogether... No family should have to make this kind of choice."
Sapir points out, however, that research on gender-altering attempts shows it can harm kids, both short and long-term, leading England and several other European countries to limit the procedures.
"Puberty blockers are associated with risks such as cognitive impairment, bone density problems, brittle bones, sexual dysfunction, and of course sterility when they're coupled with cross-sex hormones, lifelong sterility, so there are serious risks that come from these interventions. And I haven't even gotten into the surgery issue, so, it's perfectly reasonable. In fact, it's completely justified for states to say, this is an ongoing uncontrolled medical experiment on children, and we're going to regulate it. We're going to make sure that kids have the ability to understand what they're getting themselves into before they can possibly give consent to these treatments," Sapir said.
Many detransitioners are also warning their peers about the danger and trauma of these often drastic procedures.
Scottish detransitioner Sinead Watson who had a double mastectomy at 23 warns, "Whatever your issue is, cutting your body up is not going to solve that." When asked about whether some of the "stuff" is reversible, she said, "I wish it was reversible."
Experts believe the Supreme Court will deliver a sweeping victory to Tennessee and uphold age restrictions for transgender surgeries, something more than two dozen states already do. Their big concern now is the other states that have no age restrictions for irreversible, life-altering trans surgeries which they argue is more about politics than science – and could put countless children in danger.
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