“Chuck, I respectfully disagree,” Ramaswamy replied. “Gender dysphoria for most of our history all the way through the DSM-V has been characterized as a mental health disorder, and I don’t think it’s compassionate to affirm that. I think that’s cruelty. When a kid is crying out for help, what they’re asking for is — you’ve got to ask the question of what else is going wrong at home? What else is going wrong at school? Let’s be compassionate and get to the heart of that rather than playing this game as though we’re actually changing our medical understanding for the last hundred years.”
Todd responded, “I go back to this: if a parent is dealing with a child that has these — that may have these issues, trust me, the parent — the last thing they want to do is consider something like this, but if that is what they think could help their child pursue happiness or not to kill themselves, I — why take away that option? Again, why shouldn’t it be up to the parent?”
Oh, that’s a unique position for a liberal to take, considering that there have been countless reports of schools hiding children socially transitioning from parents and that the states of California and Washington have officially made themselves sanctuaries for kids who want transgender procedures without parental consent. But even in the case where a parent is willing, Todd is wrong that parents aren’t rushing into it. Sadly, the medical industry
has a financial incentive to push gender transition procedures because of their high profit margins. Parents are being brainwashed into thinking that they have a choice between gender transition surgery or a dead child.
But this is flatly wrong. According to
a Swedish study, people who have undergone gender transition procedures have a higher risk of mortality, suicidal behavior, and psychiatric morbidity compared to the general population. Last year, Sweden’s National Board of Health and Welfare released new treatment guidelines rejecting so-called “gender-affirming care” for children with gender identity issues. Instead, the new guidelines recommended that psychological intervention as the first line of treatment, rather than dangerous puberty-blocking drugs or surgeries.
pjmedia.com