The United States military services are struggling to deal with uncertain times. Now, the Department of Defense (DOD) is making it a matter of policy to restrict military parents from viewing their teenage children's medical records.
Back in my years in Uncle Sam's colors, it was common to see posters or ads in Army Times showing a young soldier with his wife and a young child (yes, wasn't that gender-normative) and the caption, "Our most important unit." There was always some joking from the single guys about "if the Army wanted you to have a family, they would have issued you one," but for the most part, the Army treated families pretty decently, and from what I understand, the other services did as well.
That's changing. On Monday, at "The Federalist," Amy Harwood, author of the Primary Educator newsletter, has some thoughts and experiences with the DOD's practices.
Parents across the United States are being restricted from accessing their adolescent children’s online electronic health records. Not only are military parents barred from accessing all but basic information on their 13- to 17-year-olds in the military’s online health care portal, but the adolescent minor also is not allowed to have a user logon until 18. Though elected officials are tackling this issue on the state level, military parents will need to be their own advocates as they appeal to Congress to restore their parental rights.
This is inexcusable; the DOD is, in this case, actually abrogating parental rights. This will serve as a disincentive for young people of traditional attitudes who are considering serving their country - and as an incentive for the confused who are seeking free "gender-affirming" treatment. Think, for a moment, about the likely effect of that on military readiness.
But here's the real shocker in all this insanity, the Defense Health Board is actually advocating for transgender treatments:
In 2017, the Defense Health Board, a federal committee that advises the secretary of defense, acknowledged in a report that the emerging field of adolescent medicine had “recently made a profound shift from its traditional role. Instead of providing preemptive guidance to parents, providers now work to reduce risk-taking behaviors with their focus aimed directly at the adolescent.” The board also recommended expanding the use of puberty blockers and cross-sex hormones to address gender dysphoria and suggested possibly including surgeries for gender-confused children in the future. The board pointed out that the Tricare Mental Health and Substance Use Disorder Treatment final rule on Sept. 2, 2016, “permits ‘coverage of all non-surgical medically necessary and appropriate care in the treatment of gender dysphoria.’” This was a final rule that came from unelected bureaucrats — not Congress.
By "....focus aimed directly at the adolescent" they mean "excluding the parent." By edict from unelected bureaucrats, the Defense Health Board has made it a matter of policy to expand chemical and surgical treatment for gender dysphoria - for minors - and are trying to prevent their parents from seeing their records. How long will it be before military parents are hit with the "live son or dead daughter" argument?
Schools are already concealing information from parents. And now military doctors are pushing harmful, life-changing hormone treatments.
I spoke with a military mom whose daughter, Cami (not her real name), was enrolled in a public school in Fairfax County, Virginia, that concealed from her parents that she had transitioned to a boy at school. Though the mother only wanted Cami to see a therapist to address her depression, military medicine additionally referred her to a so-called gender clinic in the Washington, D.C., area. When the mother didn’t take her daughter to the clinic, she received a call from a military doctor who suggested Cami might need puberty blockers to give her time to decide about her sex. At the time of our conversation, the family was still reeling from the harm that “trusted” adults at school had caused.
We have descended into the realm of the surreal.
See Related: Tennessee Inches Closer to Preventing Adults From Helping Kids Receive 'Gender-Affirming Care'
JK Rowling Gets to the Heart of the Anti-Woman Trans Agenda
Our entire medical establishment has gone nuts. The preferred action right now, when faced with a confused teenager, is to jump straight for the hormones - or the scalpel. We would have hoped that the Department of Defense and the military health-care system would have escaped this insanity, but now we see, with brilliant clarity, that they have not.
It's important to remember that this is all a social contagion; it's a fad, one that won't last - it can't last. Yes, there are people out there with genuine gender dysphoria, and yes, there have been accepted treatments for gender dysphoria for decades, those being therapy, not hormones, not surgery. But the insane promotion of "transgenderism" staggers belief.
But then, in some circles, not only claiming but parading one's mental illness has become a status symbol.
The military services have one purpose: To close with and destroy the enemy by fire, maneuver, and shock effect. Anything that helps that core mission is good. Anything that detracts from it is bad. These policies, forcing woke attitudes in the DOD healthcare system and excluding parents from decisions on their teenaged children's health - not to mention actual advocacy of "gender-affirming" treatments - will push young soldiers away from the armed services, destroy morale, and damage readiness.
