Tennessee Hospital Pauses all ‘Gender-Affirming’ Surgeries after Doctor Pushback
Methodist Le Bonheur Healthcare hospital in Memphis, Tennessee has announced a temporary halt on gender-affirming procedures after healthcare practitioners within the hospital’s network began questioning the practice. The announcement comes just weeks after Vanderbilt University’s Pediatric Gender Clinic revealed they would be halting gender-affirming surgeries for children after Daily Wire’s Matt Walsh reported on the practices conducted in Nashville.
Last month, the Tennessee legislature proffered a bill seeking to ban physicians from providing gender-affirming surgeries to minors in the state.
The ACLU’s Tennessee branch is now criticizing the hospital’s decision and is threatening a lawsuit — claiming gender-affirming care is “live-saving” treatment and medically necessary in order to save the lives of LGBTQ+ people in Tennessee and beyond. A statement released by the branch says, “Methodist Le Bonheur Healthcare’s new policy and cancellation of surgeries solely for transgender and nonbinary patients discriminates against patients on the basis of sex and ability, in violation of federal non-discrimination laws.”
The announcement to halt trans-surgeries, particularly for children, from two major hospitals in Tennessee is a massive win for those working to protect the innocence of kids and prevent irreversible harm from being done to their bodies and minds.
We often get discouraged from speaking up about controversial issues–and it’s easy to see how this is among the most controversial subjects impacting American culture today–but it’s never been more important for us to fight back to protect the next generation. As a nationwide conversation is facilitated surrounding so-called “gender-affirming” care for minors, it’s becoming abundantly clear that these kids’ lives are forever changed by what many are calling “reversible” procedures.
Just last month, a de-transitioned woman named Camille Kiefel announced she would be taking legal action against healthcare practitioners she claims ignored her mental health disorders and instead referred her to undergo a “gender-neutral” bilateral mastectomy after she began identifying as non-binary. She claims there was no true counseling over the transition, but instead the experts she was supposed to trust pushed her into an irreversible decision while they “affirmed” her new identity. At the time, she was 30 years old — but her story is not unique, and it’s not isolated to those in their adult years.
Chloe Cole, another detransitioner pushing for justice, recently appeared on Fox News’ Tucker Carlson Tonight sharing her experience. Physicians “caring” for Chloe put her on puberty blockers and testosterone at age 13, underwent a double mastectomy procedure at age 15, and almost immediately detransitioned from male to female at 16 years old.
Chloe says her physicians “pushed” her into transitioning away from her female identity, and still today struggles with health complications as a result of the irreversible procedures she was pushed into.
In 2022, it’s time for all Americans to start asking the big questions: If I stay silent about children being pushed into mastectomies, am I protecting children? If I stay silent about irreversible hormone treatment as the only course of action for children experiencing gender dysphoria, am I protecting children? If I am enraged that a young girl can’t undergo an elective hysterectomy, pushing her into menopause before puberty, am I protecting children? Seeing hospitals start to ask and answer these questions is an inspiring counter-cultural moment — and one that will likely protect countless American kids to come.
