WASHINGTON— House Oversight Subcommittee on Civil Rights and Civil Liberties Ranking Member Nancy Mace (R-S.C.) sent a letter to U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Xavier Becerra raising concerns about the federal government’s use of taxpayer funds to promote radical gender ideology and the medical transition of children using pharmaceutical or surgical interventions. Mace is calling for all documents and communications about federal funds being used to conduct research related to gender-related medicine on children.
“The Biden Administration appears to be encouraging any child, who does not conform to perceptions of masculine or feminine stereotypes, to alter his or her body through potentially irreversible medical or surgical intervention. Instead of funding these life-altering drugs and procedures, our government should be promoting policies to protect vulnerable children—who cannot consent. In light of these concerns, I am requesting documents and information to understand whether, and to what extent, taxpayer dollars are being used to promote and/or fund these potentially harmful practices,” wrote Mace.
The number of new gender dysphoria cases and children receiving puberty blockers and hormone therapy have dramatically increased in recent years. While other western countries now warn about the dangers of gender transitions, Biden Administration officials at HHS are perpetuating these practices. Some politicians at the state level are already seeking to remove parents from having any role in their child’s healthcare. Additionally, a recent HHS-proposed rule would force medical practitioners and hospitals to perform these procedures on children even where the medical provider objects on moral and religious grounds.
“Under your leadership, the Department of Health and Human Services has taken numerous steps to promote unscientific and harmful practices that reinforce sex stereotypes and, in the worst cases, promote life altering changes to young children. HHS, under the guise of ‘gender affirming care,’ now promotes medical interventions such as drugs designed to block puberty, opposite-sex hormones to transition children—both of which do not have FDA approval for use in children’s gender care—and even surgical interventions to remove or alter the gender specific anatomy. HHS also falsely promotes some of these interventions as ‘reversible’ or ‘partially reversible’ despite potential, serious long-term physical and mental health risks, complications, and regret,” continued Mace. “The American medical institutions simply do not have enough data to understand outcomes. Children who suffer from mental health conditions are least likely to engage in sound decision making which is where parental control should intervene … It is imperative that the American people understand HHS’s role and the use of federal taxpayer money to promote a radical gender ideology that is harming children in our country.”
The letter to Secretary Becerra can be found here.