It's nice, now and then, to see a little sanity returning to the discussion on any given issue.
Unfortunately, it seems that these days, the kooks are ruling the roost in too many of these discussions. Be it some political candidate's military service, economic plans, or almost any other topic involving politics, culture, or public policy, the squeakiest wheels are always out there at the forefront, demanding to be greased. And too often, society is willing to apply that grease in copious amounts to try to get the wheels to stop squeaking — which somehow seems never to happen.
On at least one topic, though, a little sanity is returning to the mainstream, and the American Society of Plastic Surgeons (ASPS) is joining that trend. That group is questioning the wisdom of "gender-affirming" surgeries, and they make some very good points.
The American Society of Plastic Surgeons (ASPS) is breaking with the consensus of the American medical establishment about best practices in so-called "gender-affirming care" for minors.
The organization's move, which represents 92% of all board-certified plastic surgeons in the U.S., comes amid shifting international sentiment that psychotherapy might be a better course of action in treating transgender-identifying minors over hormones and surgery.
The ASPS told Fox News Digital that it "has not endorsed any organization’s practice recommendations for the treatment of adolescents with gender dysphoria," as first reported by the Manhattan Institute (MI). The group said there is "considerable uncertainty as to the long-term efficacy for the use of chest and genital surgical interventions" and that "the existing evidence base is viewed as low quality/low certainty."
That's a polite, medical-speak way of saying, "Don't." And in this, the ASPS is breaking ranks with a large portion of the American medical community, for whom "gender-affirming care" is one of those sacred cows that is just begging for someone to come along with a captive bolt gun and transform it into steaks and roasts.
The ASPS's stance here is a sane and reasonable one. One of the primary tenets of the delivery of medical care, Primum non nocere (First, do no harm), dates back to Hippocrates. That should always be a primary consideration, and in the case of gender-affirming surgeries, which involve cutting into healthy tissue in permanent, irreversible alterations, violates that principle — and not by half. Forget the abhorrent practice of cutting the breasts off of teenage girls; some of what the transgender community euphemistically calls "bottom surgeries" frequently result in poor outcomes, and at best, they produce a poor facsimile of the desired genitals that will never be fully functional, often produce unhealthy side effects, and require constant medical care to maintain.
To put it simply, the ASPS is not endorsing any organization's recommendations (implying that they are keeping their own counsel) and that they harbor serious doubts about the long-term efficacy of these treatments.
See Related: How 'Transgender Agenda' Radicals Turned Off a Former Supporter
California School District Claims It Is Not 'Transitioning' Minors. That's Hard to Believe.
What's interesting is that the (often unfounded) reputation of plastic surgeons has, at times, been just the opposite of this.
"It's somewhat unexpected that the plastic surgeons of all people would be the ones to stand up for evidence-based medicine and to say we have to be more careful and not just give people what they want, because plastic surgeons have the opposite reputation," MI fellow Leor Sapir told Fox News Digital.
"But when you think about it, it's actually not that surprising, because the doctors who actually take the scalpel and cut into people, tend to have the heaviest sense of responsibility on their shoulders," he added. "It's understandable that they would be the ones who would want to know that what they're doing, especially when it involves kids, is actually good, is not harming their patients."
Ay, that's the rub. This is an organization for people who are the cutters. They are the ones who, ultimately, are responsible for the outcomes of the surgeries they carry out. Any methods that are known to produce poor results or to lack any long-term clinical or psychological benefit should be avoided. That's what the ASPS is saying. They are right, in every particular.
As I wrote above, perhaps we are seeing a little sanity return to this issue. Many of the nations of Europe are banning "gender-affirming" treatments for minors. The Cass Report has cast a lot of doubt on the practice of rushing into hormone treatments and surgeries. Oh, the squeaky wheels will continue to clamor for grease — but maybe, soon, the grease will be applied in more reasonable and rational amounts.
