Washington State kids aren’t in danger from gender affirming care

Key Takeaways:

• Anti-LGBTQ advocacy groups oppose gender-affirming care in children.
• All major medical organizations in the United States support gender-affirming care, including pediatricians.
• Parental consent is always required for major medical decisions involving minors.
• Puberty blockers only delay puberty, and cause no irreversible harm.
• Gender affirming surgery is only performed on minors when clinically necessary and given parental consent.

Keep reading for more details and sources. ⬇️

Recently, an organization called Stop The Harm released a database of hospitals and medical care facilities it claims are "endangering children" by offering sex change procedures. The information they provided has been spread widely among news organizations. But many of these conversations have been non-critical, taking at face value what the organization claims.

While the concern and care that parents and caregivers have for children is commendable and understandable, it's important to be informed by more than one side of the political debate over gender affirming care in children. Let's look more critically at this issue.

Who is "Do No Harm" and what do they have to do with Stop The Harm?

Stop the Harm is a project of Do No Harm.

Do No Harm is an advocacy group founded in 2022 by Dr. Stanley Goldfarb, and funded in part by Joseph Edelman (who has financed many organizations that denounce anti-racism and LBGTQ issues in the United States). The group described its goal at its launch as "a national nonprofit dedicated to protecting patients and physicians from woke healthcare." Members of their organization are listed on the DNH website, and are celebrated for lending their voice against "DEI and gender ideology."

Do No Harm's website states:

We believe in making healthcare better for all – not undermining it in pursuit of a political agenda. Do No Harm seeks to highlight and counteract divisive trends in medicine, such as “Diversity, Equity and Inclusion” and youth-focused gender ideology.

The Southern Poverty Law Center classifies Do No Harm as an anti-LGBTQ hate group.

Regardless of personal political beliefs, Do No Harm has a bias in providing information about gender affirming care as it strongly opposes it through advocacy and lobbying efforts.

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What is gender affirming care?

Gender affirming care is healthcare for transgender people that includes medical care, social and behavioral care, and mental health care. It is designed to address gender dysphoria, allowing transgender and non-binary people to become their authentic selves.

The Human Rights Campaign notes that gender affirming care is "always delivered in age-appropriate, evidence-based ways, and decisions to provide care are made in consultation with doctors and parents."

What is the scientific or medical support for gender affirming care?

Do No Harm claims that gender-affirming "practices are not based in well-established science and present unknown health risks to children."

Every major medical organization in the United States, representing over 1.3 million doctors, recognize and endorse the need for gender affirming care and see the treatments as medically necessary. This includes the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, the American Academy of Pediatrics, the Federation of Pediatric Organizations, and the Pediatric Endocrine Society.

Each of these organizations of physicians and health care providers offer statements on transgender health care, backed by extensive scientific research and medical care over decades. The links above will allow you to investigate those statements more fully.

The American College of Pediatricians opposes gender affirming care.

This is true. It should be noted that like Do No Harm, the American College of Pediatricians is an advocacy group, not a professional association. It has approximately 700 members, and also advocates for abstinence only education, promotes conversion therapy, and stands against vaccine mandates.

Their history includes the misuse and misquoting of medical professionals in order to promote their own agenda. The Southern Poverty Law Center also classifies them as a hate group.

Do puberty blockers negatively affect children?

Puberty blockers, which are a class of drugs that suppress puberty hormones from being produced, have been approved and in use since the 1980s. They are regarded as safe, and have been used in treatments outside of gender affirming care, such as precocious puberty, endometriosis, and prostate cancer.

Puberty blockers only delay puberty, which resumes when the treatment is discontinued. They are also only prescribed once puberty starts, and only with medical guidance and parental consent. More detailed information is available on Politifact.

Is Stop the Harm's information about puberty blocker patients correct?

Insofar as the organization's methodology, which looked through insurance claims and public data, yes. While individual health care providers may provide data to corroborate or deny the data, there is little reason to doubt the suggested numbers of patients treated with puberty blockers or hormones as this is a key service provided by pediatric services, with consent and medical evaluation.

Are gender affirming surgeries being performed on minors?

Except in rare and clinically necessary circumstances, gender affirming surgeries such as "top surgery" (removal or augmentation of breasts) and "bottom surgery" (changes to genitals) are not performed on minors. As in other cases, surgery on a minor requires parental consent in addition to thorough medical evaluation.

Major medical organizations, including the Endocrine Society and the World Professional Association for Transgender Health, offer guidelines that require extensive medical treatment, including hormone therapy and mental health care, before surgery is performed.

Is Stop the Harm's data about gender surgery patients correct?

It is unlikely, based on the methodology and known medical procedures and care plans for gender affirming care, that Stop The Harm's numbers accurately reflect the situation.

Stop The Harm's database claims that the surgery number represents "Total unique children who underwent gender-affirming surgical procedures." However, as indicated above, procedures on minors is extremely rare. While discussion of surgery may start while the patient is a minor, these surgeries are typically only performed once the patient is 18 or older.

Stop the Harm has not offered clear information as to the medical codes and insurance data that leads them to classify what procedures are surgery, and whether or not they are performed on minors. Again, it will be reliant upon individual health organizations to offer statements with more accurate facts.

What about Seattle Children's Hospital?

Seattle Children's is one of the hospitals called out as one of the "dirty dozen" in Stop The Harm's study. However, as links on the database's page prove, Seattle Children's Gender Clinic policy is:

Gender-affirming medical care for patients under age 18 requires consent from any parent or guardian that has medical decision-making rights for that patient, unless the patient is an emancipated minor.

The claim that these procedures are being performed on minors without the parent's consent would be false and contrary to Seattle Children's policies, unless specific, individual case data can be provided to prove otherwise.

As a parent, what should I do if my child is questioning their gender?

As any other issue your child has, providing love, support, and understanding is the first step. Additional resources include:

• Transgender Children & Youth: Understanding the Basics
• Children and gender identity: Supporting your child
• Transgender Kids and Gender Dysphoria
• Supporting Trans & Nonbinary Loved Ones: What Would You Do?
• It’s okay to let your transgender kid transition — even if they might change their mind in the future

This guide is to help offer resources to make informed decisions about gender affirming care for youth. This information is provided to offer more clarity and critical assessment of possibly misleading media campaigns.