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Friday, February 09, 2024

Trans Movement---2 Pages of Science

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Remember Dr. Fauci telling the nation we have to "follow the science"---"wear your mask"---"don't go out in public," etc., etc., only to see him and other "voices of science" living a very different lifestyle than the one they were demanding for the rest of us when the cameras were not running?

"Science" for thee, but not for me. 

Now we're discovering that the Department of Health and Human Services has only two pages of literature supporting "trans" Assistant Secretary Rachel Levine’s assessment that “gender-affirming care” is “necessary” for transgender youth, prompting allegations that the transgender-identifying Biden administration official has violated the Department’s scientific integrity policies by baselessly claiming it’s settled science.

It is not settled science. And Rachel Levine is not a woman. He's a man by God's standards.

Be informed, not misled.

That's right. Two pages of science.

The Daily Wire has written an excellent article that I would encourage every parent to read.

Protect the Public’s Trust (PPT), a nonprofit watchdog, filed a Freedom of Information Act request for “records of scientific evidence, studies, and/or data to support the Assistant Secretary’s claim that ‘gender-affirming care is medically necessary, safe, and effective for trans and non-binary youth,'” as well as for “records of surveys of medical professionals regarding the value and importance of ‘gender-affirming care’ for minor children.”

Keep in mind, experts have estimated the trans surgery and follow-up medical attention business will soon be a $2 billion industry.

Hospitals are expanding and even building new wings to accommodate this growing business.

In response to the request, HHS produced only a single document—a two-page PDF called “Gender-Affirming Care and Young People.” The document is also on HHS’ website and is not a scientific study, but rather a brochure that declares that “research demonstrates that gender-affirming care improves the mental health and overall well-being of gender-diverse children.”

It supports the statement with a footnote to a single study that showed that transgender-identifying young people were slightly less suicidal when receiving treatment — 51% who were receiving such care were suicidal, slightly lower than the 62% who weren’t receiving hormones but wanted them. The HHS document also states that puberty blockers are reversible and hormone therapy is partially reversible.

HHS claimed that Levine — a man who believes he is a woman — made no other mentions of “gender-affirming care” in his emails, PPT said. 

Taking action.

PPT on Tuesday wrote to the HHS Inspector General requesting that the office open an investigation, saying that Levine is violating the Department’s scientific integrity policies by making politically-motivated declarations and misrepresenting scientific evidence. 

“This suggests that Assistant Secretary Levine has constantly, continually, ‘everywhere I go,’ made unequivocal statements regarding the medical necessity, safety, and effectiveness of gender-affirming care based entirely upon a single two-page document,” the letter said. 

The complaint, obtained exclusively by The Daily Wire, says that government officials using their stature as science officials to make politically motivated statements and casting them as irrefutable science risks a further “loss of trust” in scientific institutions that would be “cataclysmic.”

“When asked for ‘records of scientific evidence, studies, and/or data’ and for ‘records of surveys of medical professionals’ to support these claims, HHS was able to provide only a single information sheet – essentially a piece of marketing material with cherry-picked data and agenda-driven assertions,” the complaint said. “This is the opposite of science and evidence-based policymaking and flies in the face of the agency’s pledge of ‘adherence to professional practices, ethical behavior, and the principles of honesty and objectivity when conducting, managing, using the results of, and communicating about science and scientific activities.'”

"When we asked HHS to provide this data, all they offered was a single two-page information sheet with links to cherry-picked, often activist-generated research to justify irreversible and possibly dangerous measures", the PPT Director says.

This is why the public has lost trust in government agencies. 

The lie.

Levine has regularly used his role as a science official to declare that “the treatment options for gender-affirming care for transgender youth really are evidence-based,” and opposition to it is “unconscionable.” 

“There is no argument among medical professionals—pediatricians, pediatric endocrinologists, adolescent medicine, physicians, adolescent psychiatrists, psychologists, et cetera—about the value and the importance of gender-affirming care,” Levine told NPR. The HHS website similarly hides behind “science,” saying, “At HHS, we listen to medical experts and doctors, and they agree with us, that access to affirming care for transgender youth is essential.”

Levine gave his interview while he was traveling to speak at Texas Christian University at the Out For Health Conference, which was founded and organized by medical students. 

When he was asked, "Why this event and what is the message of your speech?"

He responded, "I think it's a tremendous opportunity to speak with young professionals about health equity, diversity, and inclusion."

As I said recently in this Faith and Freedom Daily article, two things are driving the trans movement:

Money and far-left ideology drive the movement in absolute rebellion against God and His Creation.

Last year, Levine was exposed for discussing the “profitability” of gender transition genital mutilation surgeries with officials at the Penn State Health Children’s Hospital. Specifically, the Assistant HHS Secretary advised that involving a social worker in the process would help the hospital bill young transgender-identifying women’s double mastectomies to private insurance or Medicaid. At last year’s HHS Pride Summit, Levine once again claimed that gender transition procedures for minors are “literally suicide prevention care.”

Also last year, the U.S. Department of Justice moved to shield Levine from legal discovery in a lawsuit surrounding Alabama’s Vulnerable Child Protection Act, after the federal government involved itself in the lawsuit.

The Washington Stand, an arm of the Family Research Council, responded to this issue saying "While HHS continues promoting harmful and often irreversible gender transition procedures for children, many Western nations have begun cautioning against the practice. Nations like France and the U.K. have explicitly warned against prescribing puberty blockers and hormone drugs to children — the U.K. even barred the practice legally. The U.K.’s Gender Identity Development Service at the Tavistock clinic was recently shut down after a government review found there was little to no psychological oversight and children were being rushed and even pressured to take puberty blockers and hormone drugs. Many European countries have cited a lack of valid evidence and research on the subject of gender transition procedures, especially for children."

Takeaway

Jesus loves the little children---all the children. When his disciples told the children not to bother Him, He said in Matthew 19:14, "Suffer little children, and forbid them not, to come unto me: for of such is the kingdom of heaven."

We must be advocates for the lives of the unborn and for the born.

Be Informed. Be Discerning. Be Vigilant. Be Engaged. Be Bold. Be Prayerful.