The Assistant Secretary for Health for the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), Rachel Levine, promised that changing children’s genders medically will soon be normalized.
While speaking at the Pediatric Grand Rounds session at Connecticut Children’s Medical Center in Hartford, Levine praised the “gender-affirming care” at the facility. Levine had been invited to speak at the event about the political implications of gender reassignment surgery taking place at children’s hospitals and the Florida Parental Rights in Education law.
Levine also confirmed that gender-affirming care for minors had the “highest support” of President Biden and his administration.
“But I’m a positive and optimistic person, and I choose to be positive, optimistic. And I think that the wheels will turn on this,” said Levine.
“I think that it’s not going to be politically advantageous. It wasn’t particularly in 2022. And so I think that as we look to all the different elections in 2024, I think the next two years are going to be challenging. But I am positive and optimistic and hopeful that the wheel will turn after that and that this issue won’t be as politically and socially such as a minefield.”
Dr. Stanley Goldfarb from the Do No Harm organization, a national association of medical professionals that fights against “woke” activism in the healthcare system, said, “Levine’s appearance at Connecticut Children’s Hospital praising ‘gender-affirming care’ for minors and claiming it will be fully embraced is wrong and must be countered,” said Goldfarb. “There is no good evidence that children treated with gender-altering hormones or puberty blockers have improved mental health assessments.”
“Despite assertions to the contrary, a recent study from the University of Washington showed that there was absolutely no change in the psychological well-being of children with gender dysphoria treated with these medications,” continued Goldfarb. “There can be irrevocable harm being done to children by those pushing for these radical, ideologically driven treatments. Treatment for minors needs to be based on rigorous scientific inquiry, not on dubious, agenda-driven studies or the demands of activists.”
Representative Andy Harris, member of the House Doctors Caucus and Co-Chair of the Pro-Life Caucus, said that it is “reprehensible for a government official — let alone the Assistant U.S. Secretary of HHS to promote the genital mutilation of minors as becoming a standard practice in the U.S.”
Harris continued, “As a physician, I was proud to co-sponsor the ‘Protect Children’s Innocence Act,’ which would prohibit harmful medical procedures used to treat gender dysphoria in transgender minors, including puberty blockers and surgeries in which minors alter their body to correspond to a sex that differs from their biological sex.”
“Many pediatricians, particularly pediatric endocrinologists, have expressed serious concerns about the use of puberty blockers, hormone blockers, and sex transition surgeries in minors. These doctors know that these medications and procedures can impact children’s bone growth, fertility, and risk of breast and prostate cancer. Meanwhile, HHS has pressured providers to provide this care or else face discrimination lawsuits. We must protect our children,” said Harris.
President Biden ramps up attacks on Governor Ron DeSantis
Levine’s comments followed President Biden’s ramping up attacks on Florida Governor Ron DeSantis. In a Monday interview, without naming DeSantis, Biden called the state’s actions regarding transgender youth “close to sinful.”
Last November, Florida’s medical boards voted to ban cross-sex hormones, puberty blockers, and gender-affirming surgeries on children. The move follows a parental rights bill signed by DeSantis earlier in the year, which prohibited teachers from giving classroom instruction on “gender identity” or “sexual orientation” in kindergarten through third grade.
President Biden attacked the response by Florida to transgender youth issues during an interview with former Obama aide Kal Penn, who has been guest-hosting “The Daily Show” recently.
“It’s just terrible what they’re doing,” said Biden in the video. “It’s not like, you know, a kid wakes up one morning and says, you know, I decided I wanted to become a man, or I want to become a woman. I mean, what are they thinking about?”
“What’s going on in Florida is, as my mother would say, close to sinful. I mean, it’s just terrible what they’re doing,” said Biden.
Biden seemed to repeat himself, saying, “It’s not like a kid [just] wakes up one morning and says, ‘You know, I want to become a man’ or ‘I want to become a woman.’ What are they thinking about here? They’re human beings; they love, they have feelings, they have inclinations.”
