White House says transgender surgeries should NOT be performed on children, in major turning point
The Biden administration has now said that transgender surgeries should no longer be performed on children. This seems to be a major turning point.
A White House spokesman said this week that while the administration supports gender-affirming care for minors — such as hormone medications and therapy — “deeply personal decisions” such as surgery should be reserved for adults.
“We continue to support gender-affirming care for minors as it represents a continuum of care, and respect the role of parents, families, and physicians in these decisions,” the spokesperson wrote.
The new position differs from previous statements. Biden himself criticized Republican states for restricting children’s access to gender reassignment surgery.
The Biden administration said this week that gender confirmation surgeries should not be performed on children
The White House has previously expressed strong support for transgender health care
And just last week, emails revealed that Deputy Secretary of Health and Human Services Admiral Rachel Levine, a trans woman, has issued guidelines to remove age limits for gender affirming surgeries.
Previous guidelines recommended lowering the age limit to 14 for hormone treatments, 15 for mastectomies, 16 for breast augmentation or facial surgery and 17 for genital surgeries or hysterectomies, the New York Times reported. reported.
The White House’s reticent stance immediately drew criticism from LGBTQ organizations.
Kelly Robinson, president of the Human Rights Campaign, said Wednesday: “The Biden administration is simply wrong on this.”
“It is wrong on a scientific level and wrong on a substantive level. It is also inconsistent with other steps the government has taken to support transgender youth.”
Some medical organizations support Biden’s new position, arguing that maturity can better determine whether gender-affirming care is appropriate for an individual.
For example, the nonprofit organization The Endocrine Society recommends waiting until you are 18 to have genital surgery.
So far, 25 Republican-led states have passed laws banning gender-affirming care for transgender minors since 2021. The severity, however, varies by state.
In Arizona, surgery is banned, while other forms of care are permitted. But in Texas, laws prohibit doctors from prescribing gender-affirming care to transgender minors.
At least 20 states have taken steps to restrict or completely ban health care for transgender youth