Vanderbilt Agrees to Halt All Gender Transition Surgeries for Minors October 7, 2022 Peter D'Abrosca
After a report exposed Vanderbilt University Medical Center for performing and bragging about performing gender transition surgeries for minors, and after a letter from Tennessee state legislators, the hospital has agreed to cease all such medical procedures.
"HUGE NEWS: following our report, Vanderbilt has agreed to pause all gender transition surgeries on minors," said Daily Wire's Matt Walsh, who first exposed the medical center. "The fight is far from over but this will save children from mutilation and abuse. An incredibly important victory. Praise God."
[click to read and the letter from Vanderbilt is available]
When the 113rd Tennessee General Assembly session convenes in January, this issue promises to be at the top of the list of bills that will be introduced. IT IS VITAL that this is done wisely and carefully after the proper research is done to understand the depth and breadth of the application of the language included.
Johns Hopkins Psychiatrist: Transgender is 'Mental Disorder;' Sex Change 'Biologically Impossible'
(CNSNews.com) -- Dr. Paul R. McHugh, the former psychiatrist-in-chief for Johns Hopkins Hospital and its current Distinguished Service Professor of Psychiatry, said that transgenderism is a "mental disorder" that merits treatment, that sex change is "biologically impossible," and that people who promote sexual reassignment surgery are collaborating with and promoting a mental disorder.
Dr. McHugh, the author of six books and at least 125 peer-reviewed medical articles, made his remarks in a recent commentary in the Wall Street Journal, where he explained that transgender surgery is not the solution for people who suffer a "disorder of 'assumption'" - the notion that their maleness or femaleness is different than what nature assigned to them biologically.
He also reported on a new study showing that the suicide rate among transgendered people who had reassignment surgery is 20 times higher than the suicide rate among non-transgender people. Dr. McHugh further noted studies from Vanderbilt University and London's Portman Clinic of children who had expressed transgender feelings but for whom, over time, 70%-80% "spontaneously lost those feelings."
While the Obama administration, Hollywood, and major media such as Time magazine promote transgenderism as normal, said Dr. McHugh, these "policy makers and the media are doing no favors either to the public or the transgendered by treating their confusions as a right in need of defending rather than as a mental disorder that deserves understanding, treatment and prevention."
"This intensely felt sense of being transgendered constitutes a mental disorder in two respects. The first is that the idea of sex misalignment is simply mistaken - it does not correspond with physical reality. The second is that it can lead to grim psychological outcomes."
The transgendered person's disorder, said Dr. McHugh, is in the person's "assumption" that they are different than the physical reality of their body, their maleness or femaleness, as assigned by nature. It is a disorder similar to a "dangerously thin" person suffering anorexia who looks in the mirror and thinks they are "overweight," said McHugh.
This assumption, that one's gender is only in the mind regardless of anatomical reality, has led some transgendered people to push for social acceptance and affirmation of their own subjective "personal truth," said Dr. McHugh. As a result, some states - California, New Jersey, and Massachusetts - have passed laws barring psychiatrists, "even with parental permission, from striving to restore natural gender feelings to a transgender minor," he said.
The pro-transgender advocates do not want to know, said McHugh, that studies show between 70% and 80% of children who express transgender feelings "spontaneously lose those feelings" over time. Also, for those who had sexual reassignment surgery, most said they were "satisfied" with the operation "but their subsequent psycho-social adjustments were no better than those who didn't have the surgery."
"And so at Hopkins we stopped doing sex-reassignment surgery, since producing a 'satisfied' but still troubled patient seemed an inadequate reason for surgically amputating normal organs," said Dr. McHugh.
Gender-affirming care for transgender kids is going to backfire: experts
When her biological daughter Alex* came out as transgender at the age of 12, Anna* offered her support instantly - but she also had concerns. The New York City-based mom knew her child also suffered from autism, severe depression and self-harm, and hoped that any psychologist exploring a transition with her child would consider all those conditions as part of the treatment.
Instead, she says her child was offered puberty blockers after a 10-minute evaluation at "the best possible clinic" for transgender care in New York. "My child's autism was completely overlooked," Anna told The Post.
Although Anna needed to give consent for Alex to start the puberty blocker treatment (which she denied), she said she and her husbandfelt pressured to give her the hormones. "From the first moment we told her counselor that our child said she was trans, they told us the standard of care is to affirm. That was it. No questions. I thought we have to trust the science, we have to trust the medical professionals. But I now know they have little understanding of what's truly going on," she said.
In the three years since Alex has identified as transgender, the teen has been hospitalized multiple times for mental health reasons and has attempted suicide once. Now Anna worries that therapists sent her family down the wrong path.
"There was no real exploration as to what does it mean to be trans," Anna said. "What does she mean she feels like a boy? Why do you think you're not a girl? Tell me more. How does that feel? How do you know? And what does that mean to you? There was no exploration of that."
Many parents of children with gender dysphoria feel just like Anna right now, being told they must support their kids' transitions at all costs. In June, President Biden promised to ensure access to gender-affirmative care for all American trans youths via executive order. But that same approach was recently called into question in the UK, where the country's only clinic treating trans minors is closing next year following a damning report.
In July, Britain's National Health Service announced plans to shutter the Gender Identity and Development Service (GIDS) at the Tavistock clinic in London, where thousands of young patients have been treated since 1989. According to an independent report, patients found that their full range of mental-health issues were "sometimes overlooked" and staffers felt under pressure to adopt an "unquestioning affirmative approach."
A "significant increase of referrals" - from 138 in 2010 to 2,383 in 2020 - and a two-year waitlist also incentivized GIDS staffers to rush children through their transitions, according to the report by Dr. Hillary Cass. GIDS also failed to collect data about the treatments offered at the clinic or their long-term outcomes, Cass wrote.
Rep. Ron Gant survives head-on crash - UPDATE
On October 5, State Rep. Ron Gant was flown by helicopter for treatment at a Memphis hospital after the vehicle he was driving was struck in a head-on collision in rural West Tennessee. The other driver died in the crash. Law enforcement officials told colleagues they believed the deceased man was impaired.
This is on Ron's FB page:
Live simply, love generously, care deeply, speak kindly, leave the rest to God
Update on Ron Gant: Thank you for all the messages and prayers! Ron is in intensive care in stable condition. He has had two successful surgeries to repair his left and right arms and shattered left hip. He is still waiting to know if the left leg and knee need an operation. The broken sternum and ribs will heal on their own. The second CAT scan showed no increased brain trauma or swelling, the damaged spleen and bruised intestines are not causing major concern. We are grateful to the ICU team of doctors and nurses at Regional One along with the Campbell Clinic surgeons for the critical and exceptional care. We will give further updates as we move forward. Ron is seeing your messages and is encouraged by them and says "Thank You!"
Sunday
Ron M. Gant is at Regional One Health. · Memphis ·
Sunday Update on State Rep. Ron M. Gant
He is resting comfortably in the ICU in stable condition. His pain is being managed by his team of doctors and nurses. He has a long road to recovery with the injuries that he sustained, but is thankful to just be alive. He is in good spirits surrounded by family and friends. He mourns the loss of the other party involved in the accident and ask for everyone to pray for them during this time.
