The relationship between the United States and Europe is an interesting interplay of watch and learn. Generally, the U.S. likes to adopt and apply what it sees its Western counterparts doing. In some cases, the U.S. takes European examples and lets them play out to the extreme. “Gender-affirming” care, abortion, and voting are three examples in which the U.S. has taken the more extreme track.

In general, Europe is about a decade ahead of the U.S. when it comes to treating gender confusion, particularly in minors. The model that has been adopted by countries like the Netherlands, Sweden, England, Scotland, and now the U.S. is the extremely dangerous “gender-affirmation” strategy. This poorly named standard of care prompts physicians and other healthcare providers to unconditionally affirm the gender delusion of the afflicted person. This gender denial takes patients on a medically dependent journey of puberty blockers, hormone therapy, and surgeries to mutilate and remove perfectly healthy reproductive organs (or create fake ones).

Alliance Defending Freedom researcher Sharon Supp brings up the point that Florida’s surgeon general and many other physicians, psychologists, and psychiatrists have pointed out: Countries in Europe are moving away from gender denial.

England has had years to experiment with its own children and now understands that this method of care absolutely fails people who suffer gender dysphoria. As Supp put is, “After thoroughly reviewing the reliable evidence, these countries concluded that the risks of ‘gender-affirming care’ far outweigh any potential benefits.” The U.S has the benefit of Europe’s scientific data gathered over the course of years to use as a guideline. Instead, many states, politicians, physicians, and activists are choosing to ignore that science.

This is also true when it comes to abortion. Europeans, along with many of our leftist radicals, were outraged when Roe v. Wade was overturned. What they did not understand — thanks to propaganda machines like The New York Times — is that even Roe’s standard was extreme. Roe made abortion legal up to 22 weeks of pregnancy because babies cannot survive outside the womb that early (pre-viability). Planned Parenthood v. Casey pushed that line of viability to 24 weeks.

(Side note: With the advancement of medicine, babies have survived being born as early as 21 weeks. This author has a relative whose son was born at 22 weeks and just celebrated his first birthday. The “week of viability” standard presented even by Roe and Casey are too tame for the rabid pro-abortion activists. They would prefer to have baby murder available all nine months of pregnancy for any reason. Horrific.)

Many countries in Europe have made abortion legal until about 10-12 weeks; beyond that it is illegal. The UK is the one radical outlier with a 24-week (22-week in practice) abortion viability. This roughly 10-week difference between the U.S. and most of Europe — which is supposedly a more liberal continent — illustrates another way in which these older, more tried countries are more humane on the abortion front. (Though the most humane of all would be complete abortion eradication.)

Finally, Europe is more rational than American liberals in the arena of voter ID laws. This is particularly ironic in a country famous for its democratic principles and striving to give all citizens a free and fair election process.

“Outside of the United States, voter ID often isn’t a contentious issue. Other countries understand that requiring someone to show an ID to vote makes perfect sense. Society often asks us for proof of who we are when buying alcohol/tobacco, picking up tickets at a will-call window, boarding an airplane, and more,” reports the Washington Examiner. “If you’re a citizen of France and want to vote in the first round of the presidential election next month, you’ll need to present a photo ID — whether it’s an ID specific to voting, a national identity card, a passport, a driver’s license, a health insurance card, a military ID, or something else.”

If even France has these standards, why is the American left-wing so adamant that voter ID is racist? Perhaps it has something to do with the open southern border.

Our beloved United States is fighting a pitched battle on so many fronts. The Left is trying to “progress” (i.e. transgress), and the Right is trying to conserve and protect. It is on the one hand heartening to see Europe change track on its “gender-affirmation” model and more to more restrictive (albeit not actually conservative) abortion as well as the commonsense requirement of voter ID. On the other hand, it demonstrates the mountain American conservatives have to climb to fight for the life, liberty, and happiness of its citizens.