Appeals court ruling supports Tennessee lawmakers' efforts to ban gender affirming care
Editor's note: The Tennessean has been covering the concern, controversy and legislation surrounding gender affirming care from the reaction of elected officials to the pushback concerning from advocates of transgender youth. This issue has spurred debate across the community. You can link to other views below. Two pillars of The Tennessean’s opinion and engagement mission is to welcome diverse viewpoints and amplify underrepresented views.
The U.S. 6th Circuit Court of Appeals must be applauded for its ruling over the fall that ensures children in Tennessee and Kentucky will be protected from so-called gender-affirming care.
Tennessee Republicans have been on the frontlines of this issue since The Daily Wire reported that minors suffering from gender dysphoria or other manifestations of mental illness were receiving experimental treatments from one of the largest health care providers in our state. What was also disturbing was that The Daily Wire claimed that profit, not science or facts, appeared to motivate these practices.
The severity of what was taking place demanded quick action, which is why the first bill House and Senate Republican leadership filed for the 113th General Assembly included the nation’s strongest protections for minors. This law prevents minors from receiving irreversible sex-changing cosmetic surgeries, puberty blockers or cross-sex hormones to identify as a gender that is different than their biological sex.
Even the court’s ruling described these as “high-stakes medical policies” that involve a “relatively new diagnosis with ever-shifting approaches to care over the last decade or two” that make it “difficult for anyone to be sure about predicting the long-term consequences of abandoning age limits of any sort for these treatments.”
What is abundantly clear, however, are the irreversible consequences that come with these radical treatments.
Latest: Elliot Page asks Supreme Court to hear challenge to Tennessee's transgender care ban
Why minors should be denied gender-affirming care
The significant lack of research related to the effectiveness of these practices, and the long-term effects they can have, is deeply concerning. These drugs and procedures should never involve minors who cannot fully comprehend how they will permanently disfigure their bodies or forfeit the ability to have their own children in the future.
The Heritage Foundation reports that the suicide rate for those who have undergone sex-reassignment surgeries has been found to significantly increase as much as a decade or longer after their procedure. A 2018 study in the National Library of Medicine titled “Gender dysphoria in adolescence: current perspectives” shows that an overwhelming majority of children with gender dysphoria outgrow it while others have additional unrelated diagnoses ranging from anxiety, depression or autism.
The Left’s so-called gender-affirming care should not be confused with a cure or health care of any kind. Anyone who would allow a child in distress to be convinced they are flawed or born in the wrong body is morally misguided. True gender-affirming care is nurturing children from birth to feel good about who they already are. It is instilling confidence and self-worth in how our creator made us.
Another view: Vanderbilt University Medical Center must speak out and support its LGBTQ+ patients
Tennessee lawmakers will fight all the way to the Supreme Court
As Tennesseans, we are known for our strong family values, incredible work ethic, deep faith and compassion for others – especially those who cannot defend themselves.
Whether it’s protecting vulnerable children in the womb or in our communities, my Republican colleagues and I are committed to making sure they have the opportunity to enjoy happy, healthy and prosperous lives here in Tennessee.
And even though the 6th Circuit Court of Appeals only has jurisdiction over Kentucky, Michigan, Ohio and Tennessee, we are fully prepared to take our fight to the U.S. Supreme Court to prevent these radical medical practices from ever being performed on minors again.
Mark Cochran, R-Englewood, serves as the Assistant Majority Leader for the Tennessee House of Representatives. He represents House District 23 which includes McMinn and part of Monroe counties.
This article originally appeared on Nashville Tennessean: Gender affirming care: Ruling backs Tennessee Republican lawmakers
