Turning Point USA

Transgender minors will no longer have access to gender-affirming medical treatments in Utah, after Governor Spencer Cox signed a law on Saturday banning all medical transitions for youth in the state. The ban, which went into effect immediately, prohibits doctors from performing transition surgeries, and prescribing puberty blockers or cross-sex hormones to minors indefinitely.

Gender-affirming care is prescribed to gender-dysphoric youth under the presumption that minors have the mental ability to understand and consent to the full repercussions of their actions — when clearly, they do not. Every gender affirming treatment recommended to minors comes with permeant consequences, from social transitioning to chest-binding, and especially the hormonal drugs like puberty blockers, and irreversible surgeries to alter body parts.

” . . . using opposite sex hormones and puberty blockers are harmful to the body and affect brain development, skeletal development, and cause increased cardiovascular and cancer risks among other problems,”

Dr. Michael K. Laidlaw, MD — board-certified physician and endocrinology specialist

In addition to banning all gender-affirming treatments for minors, the law also extends the statute of limitations, for malpractice lawsuits, which currently sits at just two years following treatment in most states. This will allow individuals who were medically transitioned prior to the age of consent the ability to sue medical establishments or professionals in the state who prescribed irreversible treatments to them while they were in a developmental stage in life.

This extension is incredibly important and not only provides justice for the patient, but also discourages medical practitioners from enlisting gender-affirming care when working with minors, for fear of legal repercussions years later.

Most doctors will prescribe puberty blockers or hormones to minors as young as 9 years old, when children are in vital stages of development. These medications have been found to stunt growth, lead to the underdevelopment of sex organs, lower bone density, future infertility, and negatively effect their brain chemistry and maturation.

“Research shows that detransition takes on average 4 to 8 years, meaning many young people are unable to bring malpractice lawsuits against the doctors who harmed them because a typical limitation period is just two years.”

The Post Millennial

Profit Incentive: U.S. Transgender Medical Treatments Valued at Over $1.9 Billion

Lawsuits have cropped up around the country from formerly transgender patients who have been permanently mutilated by doctors who profited off of their patient’s emotional confusion and distress. Reuters found that the number of transgender youth clinics in the United States “went from zero to more than 100 in the past 15 years,” but failed to recognize the social facet of this phenomenon. Additionally, nearly every medical institution, including the American Academy of Pediatrics, recommend these treatments for minors despite a total lack of evidence supporting the efficacy.

Grand View Research found, “The U.S. sex reassignment surgery market size was valued at USD 1.9 billion in 2021 and is expected to expand at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 11.23% from 2022 to 2030.” This is merely the surgical aspect of the industry, and does not account for the millions of dollars which come from hormone therapies, follow-up care, puberty blocking drugs, and other treatments given to transgender-identifying individuals.

The harm caused by an early transition is invariably damaging to a child’s development. Blocking medical professionals from facilitating transitions (and grossly profiting off of them) is the only way to protect children from predacious adults propagating gender theory.