Dear Editor,
We have recently subscribed to the Epoch Times and I would like to commend you on your objective in-depth reporting of current events. I am writing specifically in response to an Op-ed piece by Wesley Smith on drugs used to block puberty in transgendered children. I am in agreement with the premise of his piece and must tell you that I am angered by the realization that children are being physically deformed. I don’t think that at the age of 10 or 12, a young person is self-aware enough to make the decision to mutilate themselves for the rest of their lives. It is wrong for a parent to encourage their young child to believe that they should take these most drastic actions because the child feels a connection with the opposite sex more than their own. The child cannot know that these feelings are not transient, they do not have enough experience in the world yet. It is a parent’s responsibility to guide, not to acquiesce.
Most parents do not want their 10-year-old drinking whiskey, and what parent would give their child the keys to their car and say, “go drive”. Why then are we telling them that they have the “right” to make the decision to alter their bodies and brains? Parents who encourage their children to alter themselves are betraying their responsibility to guide the child in sound decision making. A child so young cannot understand the consequences of these actions especially when the surrounding culture and popular media maintain a drumbeat of acceptance and encouragement. Doctors and professionals who encourage parents to push for these interventions are not just irresponsible, they are criminal.
Dina Fine
Friends Read Free