(Headline USA) House Republicans were investigating whether the Biden administration pressured medical organizations to remove age limits on life-altering gender-transition procedures, including irreversible hormonal and surgical treatments.
Biden-Harris Admin Officials Appear to be Advocating for the Removal of Age Minimums for Gender Transition Procedures
Subcommittee Chair Lisa McClain (@RepLisaMcClain) is investigating allegations of interference by Biden-Harris Administration officials in recommendations for… pic.twitter.com/Lx6TerZCzb
— Oversight Committee (@GOPoversight) August 27, 2024
Earlier this summer, the New York Times reported that Rachel Levine, a transgender and the assistant secretary for health at the Department of Health and Human Services, urged the World Professional Association for Transgender Health (WPATH) to remove age limit recommendations for transgender surgical procedures, arguing such requirements could limit access to “gender-affirming care” in the U.S.
Levine’s pressure campaign was exposed in an Alabama court filing, in a case challenging a state law that banned certain gender-related procedures for minors.
Levine was highly supportive after receiving WPATH’s revised “standards of care” proposal but was “very concerned that having ages (mainly for surgery) will affect access to healthcare for trans youth and maybe adults too,” according to an internal WPATH email that was released as part of the Alabama litigation.
“Apparently the situation in the USA is terrible and [Levine] and the Biden administration worried that having ages in the document will make matters worse,” the email continued. “She asked us to remove them,” it added, using female pronouns to refer to Levine.
Now, the House Oversight Committee is investigating Levine and HHS over whether they, “acting in their official capacity, inappropriately applied pressure for changes to international pediatric medical standards,” according to Rep. Lisa McClain, R-Mich., the chairwoman of the committee’s healthcare and financial services panel.
McClain requested all documents and communications between Levine and the HHS staff with WPATH and other medical organizations in regards to their recommendations on “gender-affirming care.”
“The Biden Administration’s advocacy for expanding the pool of vulnerable children subjected to life-altering procedures they may later regret is reprehensible,” McClain wrote in a letter to HHS Secretary Xavier Becerra. “Emails indicating that this advocacy was done for political advantage—possibly to satisfy extremist elements of its base—is even more outrageous.”
