— Republicans state it triggers long-lasting medical issues, Democrats state it’s safe and reliable
by Shannon Firth, Washington Correspondent, MedPage Today
July 28, 2023
Legislators clashed over the security of gender-affirming care in minors on Thursday, throughout a hearing of your home Judiciary Subcommittee on the Constitution and Limited Government.
Republicans condemned the practice, which they defined as “mutilation,” while Democrats argued such care is safe and reliable, pointing out the assistance of numerous medical groups.
Subcommittee Chairman Rep. Mike Johnson (R-La.) started the controversial hearing with a video of a cosmetic surgeon explaining carrying out vaginoplasties and phalloplasties. “This is the mutilation of kids, and it must be forbidden by our law,” Johnson stated.
Rep. Harriet Hageman (R-Wyo.) compared gender-affirming care to the Tuskegee experiment, including that “it triggers permanent sanitation and severe long-lasting medical issues and long-lasting dependence on pharmaceuticals.”
Rep. Mary Gay Scanlon (D-Pa.), ranking member of the subcommittee, countered Republican arguments by specifying that gender-affirming care is “safe and reliable” and “important to the psychological health and wellness of trans youth.”
“The concept that political leaders are more certified to evaluate the medical worth or need of gender-affirming care than every significant medical company is ridiculous,” she stated, keeping in mind that such care is supported by the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, the American Medical Association, and the American Academy of Pediatrics.
Scanlon likewise chastised Republicans for “duplicating conservative talking indicate de-legitimize vital health care.”
“Words matter,” she included, explaining that the language Republicans usage is assisting to drive discrimination and violence versus trans ch