Missouri Sen. Josh Hawley, is welcoming the decision of Washington University in St. Louis to halt controversial surgeries and hormone treatments on children. The school and its associated Transgender Clinic which is under scrutiny for its gender transition policies after a whistleblower came forward. In August, the New York Times confirmed the allegations.
“Good news for parents and children & basic common sense — but we still need answers about what happened at Wash U, and why University officials won’t cooperate with investigators,” he tweeted.
Hawley’s office was in the midst of investigating the transgender center regarding potential medical malpractice and what some considered abuse on minors. On April 21, Washington University claimed it found no patients who had adverse physical reactions caused by the medications prescribed there, but when asked by Hawley’s Senate office, refused to provide any documentation supporting their claim.
In making the decision to halt the dangerous treatments, University officials cited Missouri’s newly enacted law that prevents a doctor from prescribing or giving cross-sex hormones or puberty-blocking drugs to minors younger than 18. The law also bans physicians from performing gender transition surgery on children, including mastectomies and the removal of male sex organs. Senate Bill 49 was sponsored by Sen. Mike Moon, R-Ash Grove.
Under the law, minors prescribed puberty blockers or hormones before August 28 would be able to continue to receive those drugs. Minor patients who currently are receiving treatment through the university’s transgender center will be referred to other providers for these services. However, the center will continue to offer those services for patients over the age of 18.
Former trans individuals are now suing the hospitals who administered treatments and surgeries when they were children, saying they could not have fully understood the impacts on their adult lives.
In a statement, Washington University said: “We are disheartened to have to take this step. However, Missouri’s newly enacted law regarding transgender care has created a new legal claim for patients who received these medications as minors. This legal claim creates unsustainable liability for health-care professionals and makes it untenable for us to continue to provide comprehensive transgender care for minor patients without subjecting the university and our providers to an unacceptable level of liability.”
Healthcare providers in the United States continue to offer controversial therapies and surgeries even as European nations, some of whom pioneered the treatments, have now banned them. Extensive European research has found the therapies, which are virtually irreversible, have disastrous outcomes on children and even adults.
–Alan Goforth | Metro Voice