New Campaign Seeks to Protect Children From Ideology-Driven ‘Gender-Affirming Care’

Parents protest outside the Davis Joint Unified School District offices over a talk featuring Rachel Pepper, co-author of “The Transgender Child,” in Davis, Calif., on Jan. 11, 2023. Courtesy of Our Duty

The medical advocacy group “Do No Harm” has announced an initiative seeking to protect minors from the harmful effects of “gender-affirming care,” warning that children subject to such practices can end up suffering lifelong from medical complications.

Richmond, Virginia-based Do No Harm’s “Protecting Minors from Gender Ideology” initiative aims to educate the public and policymakers regarding the “disastrous consequences of the unproven and often harmful practice known as ‘gender-affirming care,’” the group said in a Jan. 26 press release. “Gender-affirming care” is premised on the idea that children have the ability to know when any discomfort they feel with their body should be dealt with by taking “experimental drugs and surgeries” that alter their biological gender.

“The movement to promote ‘gender-affirming care’ is profoundly dangerous and driven by ideology rather than evidence,” said Dr. Stanley Goldfarb, MD, chairman of Do No Harm.

“At their core, medical professionals who support these efforts are violating the Hippocratic oath directive to ‘do no harm’ by ignoring key consequences of this type of ‘care,’ including the fact that underlying mental health concerns are usually not addressed.”

Goldfarb pointed out that “gender-affirming care” ignores the fact that informed consent for the child can be impossible.

Such practices can lead to physical impairment in children, including the loss of fertility, a decline in brain maturation, and a lack of bone strength. Children undergoing such medical interventions can also suffer from sexual dysfunction, he added.

Harms of ‘Gender-Affirming Care’

A study published on Jan. 11 that looked into a “gender-affirming surgery” called vaginoplasty found that over half of those who submitted to the procedure suffered from pain and required medical attention years after the surgery. Vaginoplasty is a surgical procedure that constructs a vagina.

“Common patient-reported symptoms during clinical visit included pain (53.8 percent), dilation concerns (46.3 percent), and surgical site/vaginal bleeding (42.5 percent). Sexual function concerns were also common (33.8 percent) with anorgasmia (11.3 percent) and dyspareunia (11.3 percent) being the most frequent complications,” the study said.

Another study looked at the effects of leuprolide—the drug used to suppress puberty. The study, done in 2020, was conducted among mice which are often used as model organisms of biomedical research due to their genetic similarity to human beings.

It found that the use of leuprolide resulted in increased depression among female mice. Among male mice subjected to the drug, higher stress and a loss of interest in females were found.

Democrat Gender Agenda Push

In recent months, Democrats have introduced multiple bills aimed at promoting gender ideologies in the country. On Jan. 17, Florida state Rep. Michele Rayner-Goolsby filed the “Children’s Bill of Rights Act” which aims to strip away a parent’s right to prevent their children from accessing sexually explicit material or gender literature.

In California, Democrat Chris Ward has proposed the “Transgender Youth Privacy Act” that seeks to allow the sealing of records of children who file petitions to change their gender identities.

In order to counter the rampant gender agenda, Do Not Harm has also developed model legislation called “The JUST FACTs Act” (The JUSTice for Adolescent and Child Transitioners Act).

The model legislation prohibits the use of cross-sex hormones, puberty blockers, and surgery to treat any inconsistency between a minor’s birth sex and perceived sex. It mandates that schools be transparent about such issues and prohibits educational institutions from aiding children in the transitioning process.

The legislation also “creates private causes of action for damages for minors who are subjected to this treatment that either violates the legislation or causes harm in the future,” according to the press release.