Kaiser Permanente to ‘pause’ gender-affirming surgeries for minors – oregonlive.com:
“After significant deliberation and consultation with internal and external experts including our physicians, we’ve made the difficult decision to pause surgical treatment for patients under the age of 19 in our hospitals and surgical centers,” the nonprofit health care system said in a statement Wednesday.
Given the irreversible nature of this “care” it’s amazing that minors were subject to it in the first place.
Gender-affirming treatments for minors can include puberty-blocking drugs to halt the permanent changes that can happen in early adolescence, hormone therapy and, in rare cases, surgeries.
This is not “gender-affirming.” It’s the opposite.
Proponents say these treatments can be lifesaving for transgender teens. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, transgender teens have a higher risk of attempting suicide than their peers. A 2020 study also suggests that adolescents who receive drug treatments to affirm their gender identity have improved mental health and well-being.
This suicide risk is not mitigated by gender-affirming treatment, as the ACLU was forced to admit under oath during testimony for United States v. Skrmetti.
Critics pushing to ban gender-affirming treatments, however, have argued that minors aren’t mature enough to consent to receiving care.
No kidding. We don’t even let kids decide to drink or get tattoos. It’s crazy that this has been an exception to the age of consent laws.