NE Washington News

House Energy and Commerce Committee Chair Cathy McMorris Rodgers (R-WA), Subcommittee on Health Chair Brett Guthrie (R-KY), and Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations Chair Morgan Griffith (R-VA) have written to Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Xavier Becerra. They are requesting a briefing and information regarding the evidence-based scientific and pediatric medical literature that the department relies upon to promote gender transition procedures for children.

In their letter, they state: “Officials at HHS contend that sex reassignment procedures on minors are unanimously accepted medical practice, despite a growing body of research from European medical experts and authorities warning otherwise. According to a recent HHS production in response to a request under the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA), it seems HHS’s position rests entirely on a two-page publicly available brochure advocating for such drastic, life-altering procedures on children. The Committee seeks information to better understand the body of medical information HHS has consulted to establish its policy promoting sex reassignment for children.”

The letter continues: “All of HHS’s medical treatment recommendations, especially medical treatment recommendations for children, should be based on rigorous and well-established research that has definitively illustrated the long-term benefits of performing such procedures. Therefore, it is puzzling that HHS actively advocates for off-label use of puberty blockers without justification—such as substantial evidence gathered through a randomized controlled trial. In doing so, HHS is effectively advocating for unregulated medical experimentation on children.”

Under the Biden administration, HHS has advocated for sex reassignment procedures, including the use of serum puberty blockers. These chemical hormonal suppressants have historically been used primarily to treat U.S. children experiencing precocious puberty but also have applications in treating sex offenders. Their use can stunt normal childhood development in children unaffected by precocious puberty.

Contrary to HHS’s proclamation that “there is no argument among medical professionals,” numerous medical experts globally have publicly denounced sex transition procedures on minors as irresponsible. This includes a July 2023 letter signed by clinicians and researchers published in the Wall Street Journal.

On March 12, 2024, England's National Health Service (NHS) announced it would no longer widely allow puberty blockers to be administered to children. A United Kingdom court observed: “[i]t is highly unlikely that a child aged 13 or under would be competent to give consent to the administration of puberty blockers. It is doubtful that a child aged 14 or 15 could understand and weigh the long-term risks and consequences of the administration of puberty blockers.”

Several European countries have restricted "sex change surgeries, hormones, and puberty blockers for children." In Finland, Dr. Riittakerttu Kaltiala noted that using a child’s preferred name and pronouns “is ‘not a neutral act’ but rather one that can solidify what is otherwise likely to be a passing phase into a more permanent state of mind or ‘identity,’ putting the minor on a path to drugs and surgeries.”

For further details, click here to read the full letter.

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