Reports show medical professionals numbering in the thousands are suing the US Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) for what they see as its attempts to coerce them into helping children undergo chemical or surgical gender transitions in the name of nondiscrimination in civil rights cases.
The contentious 2020 Supreme Court decision in Bostock v. Clayton County stated that the term “sex discrimination” in Title VII of the 1964 Civil Rights Act should be understood to encompass not only its biological meaning but also sexual orientation and gender identity. President Joe Biden and HHS Secretary Xavier Becerra declared in 2021 that it would interpret and enforce federal anti-discrimination and healthcare laws to encompass these concepts.
The American College of Pediatricians (ACP) and the Catholic Medical Association (CMA), which represent three thousand medical professionals, were represented in a lawsuit filed later that year by the religious liberty charity Alliance Defending Freedom (ADF). In a move to dismiss, the DOJ emphasized that physicians’ conscience rights would be upheld, thereby ending the lawsuit that aimed to prevent the regulation from being used to punish individuals for declining to expose kids to gender-‘reassignment’ surgeries.
According to a report, the matter is now resurgent and was recently debated before the Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals.
According to ADF attorney Chris Schandevel, who is pursuing an injunction that prohibits the federal government from taking action against individuals who choose not to transition minors, the administration has made it clear in public statements that they intend to implement this gender-identity mandate extensively.
The Sixth Circuit heard oral arguments on December 6. A judgment is due within three months.
After 50 years as a pediatrician and endocrinologist, Dr. Quentin Van Meter claims that pro-gender-altering therapy research is typically “cherry-picked,” with findings that don’t reflect the evidence.
Research shows the majority of children who experience gender dysphoria eventually grow out of it by the time they reach late adolescence. The problem is that people who are confused about their gender still have a higher risk of self-harm and suicide, and total ‘reassignment’ surgery doesn’t usually help.
