The Oct. 11 AP article, “Ban upheld on minors’ care” is another example of American news media presenting the banning of affirmative care not as the medical issue it is, but as a red/blue issue. The 27 red states that have banned affirmative care are nevertheless following the policies of the national health services of the most progressive countries in the world. The national health services of Sweden (the pioneers in sex-change operations 70 years ago), Finland, England, Norway, and Denmark have all banned prescribing puberty-blockers and cross-sex hormones to minors; none of these countries allows transition surgery on minors. Clinicians of the these national health services frequently testified before the state legislatures that led to the bans now in place on affirmative care.
All five countries undertook full clinical reviews of their treatment of minors with gender dysphoria and came to the same conclusions.

Animal studies and data from very limited human studies indicate that puberty blockers negatively impact the vital cognitive development that occurs during puberty and that the effects are not reversible; cross-sex hormones fight the patient’s otherwise healthy body and are a lifetime regimen; both hormones therapies lack any substantial clinical data about their long-term effects despite the glib facility with which they are prescribed under “affirmative care.” Given the absence of any positive evidence and the preponderance of the negative, use of these hormone therapies is open medical experimentation. On children.

Transition surgeries are irreversible, require life-long medical interventions, are fraught with medical complications, and have no reliable evidence of having consistent positive physical or psychological outcomes. In fact, Swedens’ Karolinska Institute has monitored the outcomes of transition surgery for decades and found that 10 years after transition, suicidality of that population increases 20 fold over their age peers.

Medical science has recognized and successfully treated gender dysphoria for more than 60 years. The protocol: to offer steady social and psychological counseling; the result: 85-95% of children presenting with gender dysphoria reconcile to their bodies before early adulthood.

The AP article glossed over the medical testimony presented at the trial with the vague statement that the judge, “noted various concerns and ongoing debates over the medical treatments involved.” The article was then given over to the trope AC advocates invariably fly to: “children denied health care.” Sound, proven health care for this disorder has been and remains available to all gender confused minors. None of the nations or states are, denying care to gender dysphoric minors. They are, instead, acting responsibly, as adults, assuring that the care offered is both safe and effective. Medical professionals around the globe have convincingly demonstrated to legislatures and courts that affirmative care is neither

Stephen Hussey lives in Greenfield.