Massive changes are occurring across Europe in the matter of “gender affirming” care for children.
In March, Britain’s National Health Service announced it would no longer cover puberty blockers for teens, and there are indications France could be next. A landmark Dutch study that concluded that most kids outgrow gender confusion was released in April.
In contrast, the U.S. medical establishment and the Biden administration have dug in their heels and doubled down on what a growing number of health professionals view as deceptive and deadly cargo cult science.
Several states, most recently Tennessee and Kentucky, have enacted laws that block “gender-affirming” care for children under age 18.
In January, the Biden administration petitioned the U.S. Supreme Court to roll back those laws based on due process and equal protection. Bostock v. Clayton County, in which the U.S. Supreme Court ruled an employer can’t discriminate against transgender employees, is giving the Biden administration ammunition.
Two Sides of the Pond
The divide between the leadership and medical establishments of Europe and America on the issue has never been greater, as Europe has reviewed and rejected the “evidence” of highly politicized experts and is now looking to sound science for the treatment of gender dysphoria in transgender minors.
There are six or seven nations in Europe that have done their own high-level, independent, systematic reviews of the evidence-based research and have determined it to be of “low” to “very low” quality, says Lauren Schwartz, M.D., a board-certified practicing psychiatrist.
“Those aren’t arbitrary terms—those are robust research categories, and they said, ‘My gosh, the evidence that has been pushed out there is not there—we’re not seeing it,’ and so they’re rolling it back, which is a very difficult thing to do,” said Schwartz.
Gender treatment is a more politicized issue in the United States, where the medical establishment has embraced the World Association for Transgender Health (WPATH) as the end-all and be-all expertise, despite the huge release of leaked documents and videos of the WPATH experts themselves all talking about just how egregiously they’re practicing this.
Politics and Medicine
For example, Europeans acknowledge that children, even teens, cannot fully grasp the ramifications of radical treatment.
“They (WPATH experts) know they’re not able to get sworn consent from a 12-year-old, and then talk to them about the risk of sterility, or possible risk of having adult challenges in life, or of being permanently dependent on hormones,” said Schwartz.
“Then you look at all our American medical and psychiatric associations, for example, the textbook the American Psychiatric Association put out, they reference the WPATH “standards of care” 14 times at least,” said Schwartz. “If we start to question or legally question the certainty of it, there is a fear of, or an effort to avoid getting sucked into, a different direction politically—politics and medicine just don’t play well together.”
Parents and families know more about their children than anyone else, says Schwartz.
“Parents, and or caregivers, you’re the experts on your kids,” said Schwartz. “No one is a greater expert on their children than a parent. So, when you’re getting pushback from a school or a policymaker, or a lawmaker, …a hospital, or a physician, a psychiatrist, or a therapist, and they tell you, ‘We’re the experts, you don’t know,’ just as a parent you know that’s not right. Listen to that intuition and sit down and talk with your kids about it and have open conversations about it and frequently—I think this is the best way we can protect kids.”
Driven by Guilt?
Europe and America have diverging histories which could be driving the divide over transgender treatments for children.
Contrition over the United States’ historically poor record addressing racial injustice is one reason why so many progressives and the medical community have strongly embraced, and even promoted, “gender-affirming care,” says Merrill Matthews, Ph.D., a resident scholar with the Institute for Policy Innovation. Progressives equate “transgender inequality” with denying black people the right to vote, go to public schools, or take any seat on the bus.
“Think of Germany’s efforts, given its past, to ensure it isn’t doing anything to discriminate against Jews,” said Matthews. “Most of Europe doesn’t have that past, and so is more willing to accept the science and the ridiculousness of allowing young children to have life-altering medical treatment.”
“While many of us may disapprove of it, adults are free to take gender-transition steps if they choose,” said Matthews. “But we don’t let children buy tobacco products, alcoholic beverages, guns, vote, or even get tattoos. We put limits on what children can do. So, the notion that children can make such life-altering decisions, even if their parents or doctors approve, is just wrong.”
Big Money
Gender-affirming care has become big money for the medical centers and doctors who provide it, says Matthews.
“And some of them have been open about that economic incentive,” said Matthews. “However, there are law firms representing individuals who initiated their care as children that are beginning to file suits against the medical centers and doctors. If those plaintiffs prevail and win major settlements, and I suspect many will, then that will force the medical providers to rethink their support.”
Kenneth Artz (KApublishing@gmx.com) writes from Tyler, Texas.
