DEMS GETTING IT WRONG
Our Democratic legislators and officials mean well, but the road to hell is paved with good intentions, and they've been getting some incredibly bad advice when it comes to “gender-affirming care.” The statements that many Democratic representatives make — and the statistics they quote — are not supported by credible evidence. Manufacturing information to support a desired narrative erodes public trust in our government leaders and in those who claim to be subject-matter experts. We'd like to help them understand how they've been led astray. So, to all of our elected representatives and appointees, we'd like to say, “Drop us a line! Let us help you understand the evidence and stay electable!”
UNCLEAR ON THE CONCEPT
We all wish that the medical community would police their own and stick with medical interventions that are evidence-based. Since we have noted that this is far from the current reality, we are supporting bans on these treatments. We believe everyone deserves evidence-based care, no matter what age, and that true informed consent is essential. However, our Democratic legislators don't appear to agree. In fact, they seem woefully unprepared to speak in an informed manner about “gender-affirming care,” let alone vote on it.
MORE TO COME
DIAG — Rep. Rutherford
South Carolina Legislative Session, SB 4624
https://www.scstatehouse.gov/video/archives.php?key=13671&part=1
1:09:05: Representative Rutherford cares deeply about kids and understands that teens have access to dangerous online influences. That kids will do anything to fit in. But he’s gotten some very poor advice about “gender affirming care.” He's been fed the unfounded narrative that “gender-affirming care” is suicide prevention. And unless this issue hits his own family, he doesn't seem particularly interested in finding out what's really happening before voting against a bill that would protect minors from evidence-free, irreversible treatments that introduce illness into healthy bodies.
DIAG — Rep. Eschoo, CA and Dr. Meredithe McNamara
Health Subcommittee Legislative Hearing: “Examining Proposals that Provide Access to Care for Patients and Support Research for Rare Diseases”
1:04:54: Representative Eschoo of California thinks that because an ideologically driven clinician says, based on no evidence, that "gender affirming care" is life saving, and because it's the next new thing, that evidence-based medicine is "outdated." She's amazed that endocrinologists are treating a medical condition called precocious puberty “every day, as we all go about doing whatever we're doing” — an endocrine disorder for which children are tested and diagnosed — using puberty blockers. She doesn't know that there's no medical test for gender dysphoria — it's not a medical condition — and the “treatments,” which can sterilize children and cause sexual dysfunction, osteoporosis, and increase the risk of stroke and heart disease, are considered experimental in countries that have conducted systematic evidence reviews. Dr. McNamara Doesn't correct her on her confusion, but instead parrots activist talking points.
CAREENING IN THE WRONG DIRECTION
In a stunning display of carelessness, Sen. Elizabeth Warren, along with Sen. Ed Markey, inexplicably want federal agencies to loosen restrictions on testosterone, a Schedule III controlled substance, to make it even easier to access. Warren, who took sizeable donations from Kaiser Permanente during her presidential bid, wants testosterone descheduled entirely — no federal restrictions whatsoever. Warren’s folksy concerns for the common man appears to extend to the 'downtrodden' gender doctors, who, as a bonus, would no longer need to set eyes on patients regularly to ensure that they aren’t suffering from any of the drug’s serious side effects. Finally, someone is thinking of the doctors!
It's too bad Senator Warren hasn't heard Helena's story:
“…by the time I was eighteen, I saw myself as a ‘trans man,’ otherwise known as ‘FtM.’ Shortly after my eighteenth birthday, I made an appointment at a Planned Parenthood to begin a testosterone regimen. At my first appointment, I was prescribed testosterone, and I would remain on this regimen for a year and a half. It had an extremely negative effect on my mental health, and I finally admitted what a disaster it had been when I was 19, sometime around February or March 2018. When the disillusionment fully set in, I stopped the testosterone treatment and began the process of getting my life back on track.”
Helena's intake at Planned Parenthood took 20 minutes. The nurse prescribed her the highest dose of testosterone allowed, based on Helena's own recommendation. She suffered from rages, and was hospitalized and diagnosed with borderline personality disorder, depression, and acute psychosis before realizing testosterone hadn't solved any of the issues that drove her to identify as trans.
Senator Warren, many of us voted for you and we're deeply disappointed, but our door is always open. Come talk to us!
Assistant Secretary for Health ADM Rachel Levine
HHS Summer of Pride celebration
Jun 21, 2023
"You know, we often say that gender affirming care is health care, gender affirming care is mental health care, and gender affirming care is literally suicide prevention care."
"…studies show that youth that have access to evidence based gender affirming care, who have the support of their families and their community, have actually excellent mental health outcomes."
"You know, we know that the youth — LGBTQI+ youth and trans youth have higher rates of depression and anxiety, but it's really important to emphasize that there's nothing inherent with being on the rainbow that would predispose someone to those mental health challenges."
"It is the bullying that you're talking about, the harassment, the discrimination that the youth and adults face, which leads to those mental health challenges."
Admiral Levine is repeating trans activists' talking points. None of what he says is supported by evidence. There is no data that supports the claim that sex-trait modification interventions reduce suicide or suicidality, or improves mental health in the current cohort. Adm. Levine was an adult who had already fathered children when he underwent sex-trait modification.