Asa Hutchinson’s incoherent position on child sex changes
Hudson Crozier
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Tucker Carlson gave former Arkansas Gov. Asa Hutchinson one chance to have standing with Republican presidential primary voters, and boy, did he blow it.
At Friday’s Family Leadership Summit in Iowa, the conservative commentator asked Hutchinson about his past decision to veto a bill banning transgender chemical and surgical interventions for children. Hutchinson said he doesn’t regret it because “parents ought to raise their children.”
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“I believe that God created two genders and that there should not be any confusion on your gender,” he told the audience. “But if there is confusion, then [a parent] ought to be the one that guides the children.” He clarified that he would accept a bill that only banned the surgeries for minors because its effects are permanent.
Carlson pointed out that there is evidence the effects of the drugs are also permanent. But beyond the nitty gritty medical details, his next line of questioning cut at the heart of the issue.
Carlson asked Hutchinson why he describes transitioning a child as “treatment” if it is impossible to change one’s sex, as Hutchinson conceded. “Is it ‘treatment’ to prevent [a child] from going through the natural process of adolescence?” This drew applause from the audience.
Hutchinson doubled down on his view that the bill was “unconstitutional” because “it interfered with parents” and overextended the “limited role of government,” going in circles until Carlson changed the subject.
Hutchinson fails to recognize that the transgender debate is about different views of reality itself, not liberty. If people wanted to identify as crippled or blind and doctors changed their bodies to match that desire, we would call it abuse, not medicine. If people believe they are another sex when that is simply not true, it is always inhumane to “treat” them with disruptive, sterilizing chemicals and the removal of healthy organs.
Even if we looked at this from a “parental rights” lens, thoughtful consultation with parents is often not a part of the process. Doctors push the lie that helping a child overcome gender confusion without medical intervention creates a high risk of suicide. Cautious parents are obstacles to them. Hutchinson rightfully condemned the aggressive trans agenda in schools, but what’s happening in doctors’ offices is just as pervasive.
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The only message that can carry the conservative movement forward on this issue is that transgenderism is false and should never be affirmed. It is the only one fully consistent with moral principles and common-sense observations. Even the popular conservative point that children cannot get tattoos or alcohol is ultimately irrelevant. Those decisions are not inherently harmful. “Gender-affirming care” is.
Polling now shows that most Americans are waking up to the fact that this medical malpractice must be stopped. Hutchinson missed the opportunity to become the first governor to ban it. His electoral strategy on one of the biggest culture war issues of 2024 is as misguided as his vision of conservatism.
Hudson Crozier is a summer 2023 Washington Examiner fellow.