RFK Jr Demands Medical Orgs Capitulate on Youth Trans Care
HHS letters give WPATH, the American Medical Association, the American Psychiatric Association, American Psychological Association, the Endocrine Society, and others ten days to respond
HHS letters give WPATH, the American Medical Association, the American Psychiatric Association, American Psychological Association, the Endocrine Society, and others ten days to respond
The US Department of Health and Human Services announced Wednesday that it has sent letters to the major American medical associations demanding they clarify their stances on gender affirming care for trans youth within 10 days.
According to an HHS press release, HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. requested that these organizations explain the evidence base it has used to conclude that affirming a child's gender identity is the gold standard medical treatment for youth gender dysphoria.
“When medical organizations set standards that shape the care of children, they have a responsibility to explain the evidence behind those standards,” said HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. in a statement. “HHS has asked these organizations for clear answers about their current positions, the evidence supporting their guidance, and whether they intend to change it. Parents and clinicians deserve transparency, and we expect these organizations to provide it.”
The evidence base for affirming treatment for gender dysphoric youth has not changed in the ten or so years since it has become a hot button political issue, despite numerous attempts and international coordination between American conservatives and European gender critical officials.
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HHS has produced several of its own reports, which were not written by doctors but rather by anti-trans activists. Those reports heavily cite the British "Cass Report", which was not written by someone with any experience working with trans youth and has been heavily criticized for its biased statistical approach to medical evidence.
This is just one of many recent attacks against trans youth to come from this administration and it comes just three weeks before the midterm elections in which Republicans across the country have watched hundreds of millions of dollars of trans related attack ads fall flat.
For years now, conservatives have sought to manipulate the public into thinking there is genuine debate over transition care for trans youth. There is not. It is the only treatment that can actually reduce the incredible distress caused by gender dysphoria, and the conversion therapy proposed by Republicans and anti-trans activists has no evidence base of its own.
Red states all over the country have moved to ban the gold standard medical treatment for trans youth as the anti-trans moral panic has spread throughout conservative media. Even some blue states with Democratic governments have joined in.
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Just this week, Colorado announced that it would be ending Medicaid coverage of puberty blockers for trans youth, instead opting to support youth in "tapering off" treatment and government enforced detransition. It's an appalling policy choice in a state under Democratic party control, and the blood of trans youths dying as a result of this policy will be on the hands of Governor Jared Polis.
In recent months, Kennedy and HHS have attacked many blue state hospitals, threatening their federal funding until the hospitals agreed to end their youth gender affirming care programs, and now they are seeking to use political pressure to get medical organizations to overlook medical evidence and undermine standards of care.
These organizations must stand firm in their support of trans youth. We simply cannot tolerate a medical system that operates at the political whims of the federal government.
There is already a political movement building to do to ADHD treatments what has been done to trans youth care. And of course, the anti-vax movement shadows all of this. If the professional medical organizations fall to RFK Jr's pressure, then it will be open season on everything.
They must hold firm to the evidence and their own convictions.
Thank you so much for reading today! I apologize for taking so long between this and my last piece. Not only have I started streaming twice a week and posting videos on YouTube, but I also had a big old case of writers block. I am planning a piece for tomorrow too, so stay tuned!
