Where Youth Gender Medicine Should Go From Here
A child psychiatrist’s advice for President Trump
During the presidential campaign, Donald Trump promised America that, if he was elected, on “Day One,” he would “Stop the chemical, physical and emotional mutilation of our youth… Revoke Joe Biden's cruel policies on so-called gender affirming care. Sign a new executive order instructing every federal agency to cease all programs that promote the concept of sex and gender transition at any age… Ask Congress to permanently stop federal taxpayer dollars from being used to promote or paying for these procedures and pass a law prohibiting child sexual mutilation in all 50 states.”
You can watch it here:
Now that President Trump has been elected, we are entering a period of reflection about whether these are the best next steps.
Here are my initial thoughts:
More important than retribution is a restoration of competency, and eventually trust, in important institutions.
No one is served by weakening our institutions. We need to reform and strengthen our schools, universities, medical system, journalism and government.
America has built great institutions before, and we can do it again. This will come when our system commits to free speech, open exchange of ideas and rigorous science.
Some specific ideas:
Consider basing the new approach upon what was learned in the Cass Review. See my recommendations below:
Require the Department of Health and Human Services to open their books and explain to the public why they adopted activist viewpoints rather than sticking to traditional standards of evidence, open exchange and ethically guided medical practice.
Dr. Marty Makary Appoint Johns Hopkins Surgeon and Professor of Health Policy Dr. Marty Makary as the new head of DHHS. Dr. Makary is nonpartisan, sees the dysfunction in the current medical system and can develop a roadmap for a more healthy, robust medical system that isn’t focused on “churn” but rather on making Americans healthy and robust.
Get Federally Qualified Health Centers (FQHCs) out of gender medicine. FQHCs were created to provide Americans, especially low income populations, with high-value primary care. FQHC are amazing institutions which need to grow and strengthen, this is a bastardization of their critical mission.
Create billing codes for detransitioners and mandate insurance coverage for these codes. We need more ideas about what a compassionate “off ramp” looks like for families and young people harmed by “gender affirming care”.
Rather than going after whistleblowers like Dr. Eithan Haim, the federal government should form a Truth and Reconciliation committee to investigate the institutional failures that have brought on this gender madness.
Gender nonconforming young people should receive more support and space for any type of gender expression, yet they should not be told they are born in the wrong body or require hormones and surgeries in order to be their “authentic selves”.
Stop pronouns madness and social transition in schools. Schools should use birth names and biological sex, it's that simple. When kids grow up, then they can call themselves whatever they want.
Conduct a cost-benefit analysis regarding transgender care that is honest about the money spent, projections into the future, and the type of value proposition that citizens are receiving through their health insurance and government-funded insurance. I do not suggest all monies need to be restricted, yet the cost of these treatments cannot be left to gender doctors who have shown themselves incapable of self-policing or coming up with any reasonable guidelines.
Increase funding for investigative journalism, and either shut down or completely start over with NPR. NPR is affiliated with our government, and partially funded by taxpayers. I say let's reshuffle and strengthen NPR, but it can’t continue to be a progressive echo chamber and misinformation factory.
Reform medical training and residency programs to get politics and ideology out of medicine.
Let's hear your ideas about where to go next.
Disagree with one of my suggestions, or have one of your own? Reply in the comments below.
This is a decent start. I also think we should declare gender-affirming care experimental therapy and erase any reference to gender identity as a protected class and, instead use clear definitions of male and female.
"Stop pronouns madness and social transition in schools. Schools should use birth names and biological sex, it's that simple. When kids grow up, then they can call themselves whatever they want."
Hear, hear!