As humans, we are gifted with the unique abilities to reason and change our minds completely when presented with new information. However, some legislators in Congress simply refuse to reorient their mindsets when presented with evidence that gender-transition procedures are not authentic healthcare.
Too many legislators are in favor of using Medicaid and the Children’s Health Insurance Program to fund gender-transition procedures for minors, even going as far as opposing provisions in the reconciliation bill aimed at protecting children who are covered by these programs. Their viewpoint is completely at odds with the 65.5% of likely voters who insist that “federal tax dollars should not pay for gender transition procedures.”
It’s time for our elected officials to follow the science and common sense, which reveal that including gender transition surgeries and puberty blockers in Medicaid and CHIP is nothing short of state-sponsored child mutilation. It is not compassion and certainly not progress.
What many legislators should already realize is that puberty blockers and cross-sex hormones alter children’s bodies irreversibly. Mastectomies, castrations, and the construction of pseudogenitalia leave irreversible scars on minors — emotional, physiological, and spiritual in nature. The outcomes are not freedom or peace of mind. They are sterility, chronic medical dependence, and regret.
Children do not need chemicals or scalpels to feel more at home in their bodies. They need the time and space to say later: “I was wrong, and I’m grateful someone protected me and allowed me to change my mind.” Studies show that when given the proper time and support to grapple with their internal conflicts, between 80% and 90% of children who question their gender identity ultimately embrace their biological sex.
Chloe Cole is one of many young women who regretted her decision to transition from female to male at age 15. She testified in front of Congress in 2023 that she was not able to fully consent to or comprehend such irreversible procedures at such a young age.
“I don’t wish for anyone to regret transition or detransition because it’s incredibly difficult. It comes with its own difficulties, and it’s not easy,” she said, also insisting that “every parent deserves the utmost grace and guidance on how to help their child.”
Studies also reveal that gender transition interventions often fail to reduce suicide rates, despite their so-called therapeutic intent. In fact, a 30-year study conducted in Sweden found that those who underwent gender-reassignment surgery experienced suicide rates 20 times higher than their peers. The children who do not take their own lives are left without the ability to become parents or to reclaim the bodies they were allowed to abandon.
There is no question that it would be deeply problematic to allow taxpayers to foot the bill for these gender-transition services. It would also be extremely costly. An American Principles Project report shows that in 2020, a CEO in the transgender medical industry estimated that it costs $150,000 per person to “transition.” At that rate, it could cost tens of billions in taxpayer dollars to pay for gender transition procedures since the majority of the 250,000 transgender-identifying adults enrolled in Medicaid would use the funds to cover procedures.
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Legislators should also account for the fact that children who seek so-called gender-affirming surgeries grow into adults requiring more and more treatments, making Medicaid ever more expensive. Gender transition procedures require intense upkeep through hormone treatments, surgical checkups, treatment of complications, and other interventions that drain Medicaid funds over time.
Compassionate, taxpaying Americans do not want to be complicit in this gender-ideology scheme. They know that federal health funding is meant to pay for medically required treatment, not risky and experimental cosmetic procedures undermining long-term health and happiness.
Kelsey Reinhardt is the director of media and evangelization for CatholicVote.