FIRST ON THE DAILY SIGNAL—The medical watchdog group Do No Harm is calling on 10 major medical associations to explicitly condemn transgender genital surgeries on minors.
“Professional medical societies that endorse so-called gender-affirming care in minors bear tremendous responsibility for the harm done to American children in the name of gender ideology,” Dr. Kurt Miceli, a psychiatrist and chief medical officer at Do No Harm, told the Daily Signal in a statement on the letters.
Do No Harm sent ten largely identical open letters Wednesday morning, addressing the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, the American Academy of Pediatrics, the American Psychiatric Association, the American Medical Association, the Endocrine Society, the American Urological Association, the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists, the American Academy of Family Physicians, the American College of Physicians, and the Pediatric Endocrine Society.
While the World Professional Association for Transgender Health, an activist group often cited as the authority on sex-rejecting procedures, recommends genital surgeries only for patients over 18 years of age, it makes some exceptions for minors.
The Letters
“Do No Harm and its 54,000 members are calling on your society to publicly reject genital surgery on minors for the purpose of producing ‘gender transitions,’” the letters state (emphasis original). “While this process is uncommon, we believe that it should never occur.”
The letters cite Komodo Health’s analysis of insurance claims data, which mentions 56 genital surgeries between 2019 and 2021 on minors aged 13 to 17 with a diagnosis of gender dysphoria, the painful and persistent condition of identifying with the gender opposite one’s sex. They also cite a JAMA Network analysis, finding 405 genital surgeries on adolescents from 2016 to 2020.
The letters also cite Do No Harm’s own Stop the Harm database, showing similar results.
“This number needs to be 0,” the letters flatly state.
The letters warn that by supporting “the entire program of so-called gender-affirming care,” the associations in question suggest that sex-rejecting procedures confer some benefit, despite medical reviews to the contrary. They also note that genital surgeries have been “notorious for producing multiple complications.”
“No matter what ill-conceived notions your organization has supported vis-á-vis children attempting ‘gender transitions,’ we call on your society to renounce all genital surgeries performed on minors,” the letters state (emphasis original).
Such surgeries “should not be included in any clinical-care plan or treatment protocol.”
Tide Turns Against Transgender ‘Medicine’
Many of these entities signed an open letter in April 2021 opposing state laws to restrict “gender-affirming care.” In recent years, however, systematic reviews have cast doubt on the effectiveness of experimental transgender medical procedures.
A Department of Health and Human Services study found little evidence for positive impacts from sex-rejecting procedures, while studies show they can cause harm, from increased cancer risks to a higher risk of suicidal thoughts.
A jury awarded a detransitioner $2 million in a medical malpractice lawsuit in February, and psychiatrists reportedly agreed to settle an Oregon detransitioner’s medical malpractice claim in January.
In February, the American Society of Plastic Surgeons recommended that patients delay any transgender surgeries until reaching 19 years of age, and the American Medical Association responded with a statement agreeing that “surgical interventions in minors should generally be deferred to adulthood.”
Dr. Miceli called on these institutions to clarify their stances, considering their history of vocally opposing restrictions on “gender-affirming care” coupled with a few recommendations that surgeries be “deferred” to adulthood.
“These societies shape professional standards through their policy directives, clinical guidelines, and public statements,” the doctor explained. “In many cases they are viewed as the experts to whom providers, lawmakers, and the public defer judgment on the safety and efficacy of treatments. We therefore call on professional medical societies to begin to right wrongs and explicitly oppose the performance of transgender genital surgeries on minors.”
“No high-quality evidence demonstrates that these surgeries have beneficial outcomes in children,” he concluded. “Medical societies must be clear and state their firm opposition to these unscientific and harmful procedures.”
The Daily Signal has reached out to these medical associations and will update this article with any comments.
Reprinted with Permission from The Daily Signal - By Tyler O'Neil
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