“The federal government’s medical establishment releasing guidance failing at the most basic level of academic rigor shows that this was never about health care. It was about injecting political ideology into the health of our children. Children experiencing gender dysphoria should be supported by family and seek counseling, not pushed into an irreversible decision before they reach 18.” —Florida Surgeon General Dr. Joseph Ladapo

Florida’s Department of Health (DOH) released new guidance regarding “gender affirming care,” “gender affirming surgery,” and puberty blockers for children and adolescents. Instead of following the politically motivated diktats of the federal government, Florida’s DOH has actually consulted scientific studies.

Their findings have been largely predictable. The studies bolstering the “trans the kids” lobby are poorly conducted and based on self-reporting. So Florida’s DOH issued a fact-check on Joe Biden’s Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) — the main agency spurring the trans agenda for children. Here are some of the more pertinent findings correcting the lies of the HHS:

• A systematic review on hormonal treatment of young people with gender dysphoria concludes that “low-quality evidence suggests that hormonal treatments for transgender adolescents can achieve their intended physical effects, but evidence regarding their psychosocial and cognitive impact are generally lacking.” The cited evidence had small sample sizes and medium to high risk of bias.

• A small study on 44 patients in the United Kingdom failed to show any psychological benefit to puberty blockers on children aged 12 to 15…

• A paper published in International Review of Psychiatry states that 80% of those seeking clinical care will lose their desire to identify with the non-birth sex…

• In May of 2021, Sweden’s Karolinska Institute suspended the use of puberty blockers for those under the age of 18 due to the potentially irreversible consequences such as cardiovascular disease, osteoporosis, infertility, increased cancer risk, and thrombosis.

More and more studies are coming out worldwide showing that “gender affirmation” and all the rigmarole that goes with it are negative for children and adolescents who pursue it. It does not — as the activists and leftists like to suggest — prevent suicide in kids. And yet Biden and his HHS continue to push this agenda, insisting that “gender affirmation” is the best practice for children.

This insertion of ideology by the Left even into healthcare is insidious and part of a larger push for “equity healthcare.” It infringes on the rights of both the patients and the doctors who are forced to perform medical procedures or practices contrary to their beliefs.

One also has to question why giving children under 18 the right to utterly destroy and mutilate their body based on a lie is so important to this administration. Biden sees the “transgender” activist agenda as the civil rights movement of our time. Certainly, that is part of it. But the science is so clearly not in line with the agenda that one has to wonder if there’s a more nefarious motive. “Gender affirmation” treatments lead to depression, confusion, sterilization, and often attempted or successful suicide. This culminates in a population that is easier to control.

“Gender affirmation” also creates a person dependent on the medical system to continually provide drugs, therapies, and surgeries. Who would have a stake in that? The pharmaceutical companies?

Florida is looking more and more like it has its priorities straight: protecting vulnerable children from the predations of a pernicious ideology. The new state DOH guidelines put a long enough pause on drastic intervention (social transition, puberty blockers, and surgery) to actually help these confused children.