New Utah Bill Seeks Ban on Gender-Affirming Care for Minors

One can make a good argument that the whole gender ideology social contagion has passed its sell-by date. Now, my normal disclaimer: Yes, there really are people who suffer from gender dysphoria. It's a real thing, and has been recognized by the psychiatric world for many years. It has, historically, been treated with therapy, not surgery, not hormones. When diagnosed and treated thusly in young people, most of them recover and go on to normal lives. But here in the United States, an industry has sprung up around surgical and hormone treatments for people who claim to have this complaint, and the activists aren't above treating children, who cannot give informed consent to a tattoo, much less these invasive and irreversible treatments.

A committee of the Utah State Legislature is reported to be considering a bill that would outlaw "gender-affirming care" for minors in that state. That's good news.

The Utah House Health and Human Services Committee heard comments Tuesday for and against a ban on gender-changing procedures for minors.
Introduced by state Rep. Rex P. Shipp, R-Iron County, House Bill 174 prohibits giving cross-sex hormones and puberty blockers to minors unless specific circumstances are met. HB 174 would also require health care professionals to initiate treatment plans for minors that want to end cross-sex hormones or puberty blockers.
Those testifying before the committee included patient advocate Chloe Cole. A native of California, Cole began to transition to a male at the age of 12 and later changed her mind. Now a young adult working for Do No Harm, Cole has been traveling the country to speak against surgeries and medications for people with gender dysphoria.

Chloe Cole, mind, speaks from bitter personal experience.

“That last time I was here, I spoke about some of the consequences for my health,” Cole told lawmakers. “Almost none of those complications have gone away since. Some have even worsened over the years.”
Cole said “there have been multiple instances over the years” where her scars burst into open wounds with no explanation or help from medical professionals.
“I’m not just a one-off experience,” Cole told lawmakers. “There is a rapidly growing community of thousands of men and women and boys and girls who end up regretting their transition, and drugs have destroyed their bones and their joints.”

Chloe's transition, remember, began at age 12. If she had received therapy instead of being told "Oh, you're really a boy," this could have been averted. But it seems too many of these "counseling" organizations are really advocacy groups.

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If this bill makes its way through the Utah state legislature and becomes law, well, then it's time to take that show on the road, to as many states as possible. This is an entirely pernicious practice, this altering, permanently, the minds and bodies of children, who, we remind you, cannot give consent to have a tooth pulled or to get a tattoo. President Trump has spoken about such a law at the federal level, but most laws like this are properly in the province of the states, and there's no reason not to fight the battle at every level, in any case.

These treatments are damaging, they are debilitating, and they are permanent. Many of these young people, even if they choose to detransition, are rendered sterile. Many of them will never be able to have children, or in some cases, even to enjoy normal intimacy. Adults may do as they please, but children are another story. We protect children; we don't mutilate them. This bill should pass, and promptly.

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