“In retrospect, I wish that somebody had suggested real, genuine therapy first, instead of gender-specific therapy,” Breen, now 20, told NBC News.

Breen said she began to question her decision to transition after she started dialectical behavior therapy, a type of talk therapy that seeks to help those struggling with intense emotions, earlier this year.

“I sort of started questioning my own gender identity and if I was doing this for the right reasons,” she said.

The defendants in Breen’s lawsuit include Dr. Johanna Olson-Kennedy, an adolescent medicine physician specializing in gender-affirming care; Children’s Hospital Los Angeles; Dr. Scott Mosser, a plastic surgeon specializing in gender-affirming surgery; the Gender Confirmation Center of San Francisco; UCSF Health Community Hospitals; and psychotherapist Susan P. Landon.

When asked to comment on the lawsuit, a spokesperson said the Center for Transyouth Health and Development at Children’s Hospital Los Angeles, where Olson-Kennedy works, has “provided high quality, age-appropriate, medically necessary care for more than 30 years.”

Unfortunately, Breen’s story is emblematic of a broader trend in which parents are pressured into agreeing to such treatments, often driven by medical professionals’ claims that refusal could lead to their child’s suicide.

Breen’s story is similar to that of de-transitioners, those who undergo “gender-affirming care” as children and later regret it. They detail how medical professionals pressured their parents into allowing them to be subject to these treatments, which often have negative mental and physical consequences that cannot be reversed.

The tactics used by medical professionals who pressure children into “gender-affirming care” are already insidious enough. However, the fact that these practices are not supported by the evidence makes it even more egregious. In the Supreme Court case U.S. v. Skrmetti, Justice Samuel Alito questioned the notion that puberty blockers, hormone therapy, and surgeries reduce the risk of suicide among children suffering from gender dysphoria.

The attorney arguing against Tennessee’s ban on “gender-affirming care” for minors admitted that it does not. Indeed, there is growing evidence that these treatments could make the problem worse. A National Institute of Health (NIH) study indicated that these treatments contributed to the suicides of two individuals.

Another study revealed that children to go through “gender-affirming” surgeries are at least 12 times more likely to attempt suicide compared to those who do not. Other studies conducted in Sweden, the United Kingdom, and others, show that the treatments often exacerbate mental health problems rather than alleviating them.

Breen noted that her “mental health progressively declined” after “gender-affirming care.”

This is becoming an even worse problem as more children have begun to deal with gender dysphoria. All too often, doctors and even educational professionals are too quick to give them this diagnosis even when there are other mental health problems present.

Those pushing this agenda are often motivated by ideology and money. By getting children on puberty blockers and hormones, medical professionals and pharmaceutical companies ensure that they have a long-term customer. Who cares if it means further traumatizing children who already have mental health problems?

These practices must be stopped. This is why it is good that states like Tennessee, Texas, Florida, and others are fighting to protect the rights of children who are vulnerable to these manipulations.