During a recent talk in Connecticut, Assistant Secretary of Health Rachel Levine, the highest-ranking transgender official in US history, proudly stated that the administration of President Biden supports the “gender-affirming” treatment of transgender children.
However, some individuals have criticized her for this statement, calling it “reprehensible.” Levine defended her position by stating that the attacks on health centers providing such treatments to children are politically and ideologically motivated and labeled them as “unconscionable.”
“I can say that the children, their families and you all as their providers have support at the highest levels of the federal government,” Levine told the Pediatric Grand Rounds session in Hartford.
“President Biden supports you … Vice President [Kamala] Harris supports you. Across the administration, the departments support you,” she said, adding that she talks “about this topic everywhere I go.”
Despite previously stating in a viral interview in 2019 that young people nowadays are not willing to undergo the transition process later in life, Rachel Levine, aged 65, stands firm in her support of the procedures.
Levine had waited until she was approximately 40 years old to begin her transition, which took her at least a decade to complete.
Despite the lengthy process, she has no regrets, as she believes that if she had transitioned when she was younger, she would not have her adult children, Dayna and David, and cannot imagine a life without them.
Rachel Levine now believes that hormone and puberty blockers are crucial for transgender youth who are experiencing depression and attempting suicide at alarming rates. She maintains that these treatments are medically necessary, safe, and effective.
Levine suggests that bullying, harassment, and discrimination of transgender youth lead to these negative mental health outcomes, while those who receive support have excellent mental health outcomes.
Levine emphasizes that gender-affirming care is medical care, mental health care, and suicide prevention care. She vows to use legal means to prevent states from implementing laws that block access to such treatments.
Rachel Levine expressed optimism that the current controversy surrounding the treatment of transgender youth will eventually subside. However, her recent comments on the issue have met with strong opposition. Congressman and physician Andy Harris, a member of the House Doctors Caucus, called her remarks “reprehensible.” He criticized Levine, who serves as the assistant US secretary of HHS, for promoting what he termed “genital mutilation of minors” as a standard practice.
“Many pediatricians … have expressed serious concerns about the use of puberty blockers, hormone blockers, and sex transition surgeries in minors.
“These doctors know that these medications and procedures can impact children’s bone growth, fertility, and risk of breast and prostate cancer.
According to Harris, HHS has put pressure on providers to offer gender-affirming treatments to minors, and those who refuse to do so may face discrimination lawsuits.
He believes that it is necessary to protect children from such treatments and has co-sponsored the “Protect Children’s Innocence Act,” which would prohibit them.
Meanwhile, Dr. Stanley Goldfarb, a member of the Do No Harm organization, a group of medical professionals opposing “woke” activism in healthcare, disagrees with Levine’s claim that these treatments will be fully embraced. He argues that there is no solid evidence that gender-altering hormones or puberty blockers improve mental health assessments in children.
Goldfarb believes that pushing for these treatments, which he sees as ideologically driven, can cause irrevocable harm to minors. He maintains that treatment for minors should be based on rigorous scientific inquiry rather than dubious, agenda-driven studies or the demands of activists.
According to Levine, President Biden is a supporter of gender-affirming treatments and has criticized Florida’s move to ban them, calling it “close to sinful.”
In an interview with “The Daily Show,” Biden expressed his dismay at the idea of denying medical care to transgender youth, stating that it is cruel to do so. Levine has previously discussed her transition, including the fact that her dead name was Richard, at a meeting of the Society for Adolescent Health and Medicine in 2019.
She explained that her own transition was a decade-long process and that she never really considered it until it became more prevalent in the culture when she was in her 40s.
“Young people are not willing to do that anymore. And I don’t know if I was 15 now, I don’t know if I would have taken so long,” she said
“I don’t regret any of that,” she said of the delay.
In a lighthearted moment, she quipped that she went through her “amazing journey” for the men in the audience.
“You can go to your partners and say, ‘Don’t complain about my midlife crisis — look at Levine! All I want is a car!’” she joked, cracking up the audience.