Tag Archives: puberty blockers

Truth vs Lies

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Author: R. Alan Harrop, Ph.D harropcrew1@gmail.com

The basis of all effective human dialog and interaction should be truth. This is particularly vital in the political realm where voters must make decisions on critical issues. Politicians have always been somewhat suspect about being truthful. What is occurring now in our country is beyond anything I have ever seen and threatens to further divide our country. This reminds me of George Orwell’s novel 1984, where the so-called Ministry of Truth, controlled what people were told.

There are far too many examples of politicians lying to list them all, but here are a few. The Inflation Reduction Act, initiated by the Biden regime, not only had nothing to do with reducing inflation, but actually did the opposite by increasing government spending and resulting in more inflation. Similarly, with the so-called student loan forgiveness program by Biden. This effort unjustly passes the debt on to other taxpayers. Truth would require it to be called the student debt transfer to others program. Management of the COVID19 pandemic was full of lies. Starting with the origin of the virus from gain of function projects funded by Dr. Fauci’s organization to the lack of effectiveness and danger of the vaccine, we were told numerous lies.

The border crisis that has been occurring during the Biden administration has resulted in an invasion that threatens to destroy our country was blamed on President Trump, The truth, of course, is that the Biden regime wanted an open border in order to get more voters. This lie continues with Biden’s recently announced program to limit illegal immigration. It does no such thing. The reality is that allowing 2500 illegals per day will produce 925,000 per year in addition to 900,000 from other admission programs. Another glaring example of government lies is the term “gender affirming care”, for the prescribing of destructive hormones, puberty blockers and surgery. It is truthfully biological sex change which is rarely ever successful and a reflection of, in many cases, an underlying mental illness.

The most recent example was Nancy Pelosi being caught on a video recording admitting that she was to blame for January 6th because she did not authorize the placement of National Guard troops around the Capitol as had been recommended by the Trump administration. Her lie was the basis for the entire effort to prosecute President Trump for what happened on that day and resulted in the unjust prosecution of thousands of innocent protestors.

It is obvious to any rational person that Truth is not a left wing value. They will say anything, do anything, and lie as needed to fool the public. The sad thing is that many people in this country accept these lies. The recent vote in Europe that has produced a move toward conservative government is encouraging. The election on November 5th will show whether the majority of citizens in this country realize they are being lied to and are ready to throw out the liars.

Stopping Transgenderism

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Author: R. Alan Harrop, Ph.D

The United States was once known for introducing the rest of the world to technological improvements that benefited all mankind. We are now, sadly, known for introducing destructive ideas. One case in point is transgenderism, which is the doctrine that a person can be any gender they choose, regardless of whether they were born male or female. America is leading the charge on this false doctrine. Now, other countries are choosing not to follow this absurd notion.

A recent article appearing in the Epoch Times reported that in April, the Cass Review was published in the United Kingdom. Described as “The most comprehensive summary on transgender youth medicine,” the review, chaired by Dr. Hillary Cass, British honorary physician and president of the Royal College of Pediatrics and Child Health, stated that there was “insufficient evidence to demonstrate the long-term benefits of medicalizing children who want to identify as a different gender”. In short, they concluded that children should not be given hormones, puberty blockers, and other medical treatments that alter the physical characteristics of their birth gender. Instead, they should be considered for psychotherapy to address why they are dissatisfied with being their birth gender. It was noted in this extensive study that many of the children who express a desire to change their birth gender have other identifiable mental disorders such as depression and autism. It was also reported that most children grow out of their gender dysphoria over time, many without any treatment. Evidence also did not support the belief that prescribing hormones reduced the risk of suicide; quite the opposite is true, with children going through gender transition having a higher rate of suicide than non-transitioning children.

As a result of this science based information, the United Kingdom joins other countries such as Sweden and Norway in banning hormone treatment for minors. The Cass Review noted that the United States remains the main driver of hormone treatments for gender dysphoria, even though 18 conservative controlled states have implemented laws prohibiting this practice. The recent trend to place mental health social workers in public schools should raise a red flag to parents, since most of them would undoubtedly favor facilitating children’s expressed desire for gender change. The Biden regime’s recent efforts to change the wording of Title IX to prevent gender discrimination rather than the original intention to prevent discrimination based on biological sex must be stopped since it takes us further down the path of encouraging the idea that gender is a choice rather than a biological reality.

This entire effort by the left to push transgenderism points out the serious error of basing decisions on “consensus” rather than demonstrated scientific facts. Beliefs, based on the consensus of experts, led us to implement mask mandates and shutting down our economy during COVID19, neither of which did any good. Similarly, we are destroying our economy by eliminating fossil fuels, again based on consensus not facts. We must not allow ourselves to be persuaded by those who have an ideological agenda and use consensus to control us. Freedom can only survive when we demand rigorous scientific facts before taking any action. Otherwise we are being led by the Pied Piper to our own destruction. Truth has never been a leftist value!

 

Pushing Back On Bad Medicine

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On of the most frightening trends right now is the increase in the number of young children and teenagers who believe that they are in the wrong body with the wrong sex. Part of that trend is due to social media and the lies told there, and part of that trend is due to the normal confusion of puberty. On Wednesday, The Federalist posted an article showing some of the problems with the narrative that transgender medical procedures are a good thing.

The article reports:

The truth about transgenderism is coming out. On Monday, Michael Shellenberger released a multitude of internal files from the World Professional Association for Transgender Health (WPATH) that “prove that the practice of transgender medicine is neither scientific nor medical.” WPATH has been accepted by the political, cultural, and medical establishments as the authority on transgenderism, but what its members say in private is not the narrative they sell to the public.

Instead of the rigorous, careful, evidence-based medicine that champions of “gender-affirming care” claim to practice, the WPATH files show doctors who are making it up as they go along, smashing through guardrails even though they know that the children they are chemically and surgically altering cannot really give informed consent. And people are noticing.

No wonder the transgender ideologues are worried. The public has proven more resistant than they expected, especially regarding radical policies such as putting men in women’s prisons and girls’ locker rooms, let alone sexually mutilating and sterilizing children. And transgender activists and their allies have no response except to repeat their same failed arguments, just louder.

…From puberty blockers to hormones to surgeries, transition is never medically necessary. Transitioning does not cure any disease or correct any physical ailment or injury. Rather, the point of medicalized transition is to disrupt and destroy the normal functioning of healthy bodies.

The article notes:

Therefore, it is not only reasonable, but imperative, for legislators to rein in the transgender industry, and especially to stop the “transitioning” of children. Ulrich and other activists can fulminate about right-wing conspiracies, but it is right and just to ban the surgical and chemical mutilation of children. Many states have done so, thereby proving that gender ideology will not inevitably triumph and claim our children for its own.

It’s time that parents and grandparents demand that children be protected from unnecessary medical procedures that will have life-long consequences.

More Follow The Money

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On Friday, The Daily Caller posted an article that might explain why Republican Governor Mike DeWine of Ohio vetoed House Bill 68.

The article reports:

Republican Gov. Mike DeWine of Ohio received thousands of dollars in donations from donors who provided transgender medical services or opposed efforts to ban the procedures for minors.

DeWine vetoed House Bill 68 on Friday, which would have prohibited doctors from prescribing puberty blockers and cross-sex hormones for minors and banned boys from competing in girls’ sports, just hours before the deadline. A review of donations from 2018 to 2023 found that the governor received $40,300 from the Ohio Children’s Hospital Association (OCHA), Cincinnati Children’s, Nationwide Children’s Hospital and ProMedica Children’s Hospital, all of whom support transgender medical care.

OCHA donated $10,000 to the Mike DeWine and Jon Husted Transition Fund on Dec. 28, 2018, and another $10,000 on Dec. 7, 2022, according to the report. A transition fund allows candidates to spend donations for “transition activities and inaugural celebrations,” according to Ohio’s campaign finance handbook.

We need to remember that if a child ‘transitions’ to the opposite sex, he will need major medical care for the rest of his life. The body continues to make whatever hormones are connected to the person’s original sex (as determined by their DNA). Constant medication is needed to override what the body is doing naturally. Campaign donations by groups tied to transgender surgery are a good investment–they will receive patients (and profits) for life.

Protecting Our Children

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On Tuesday, Townhall reported the following:

On Saturday, a federal appeals panel said a Tennessee law restricting irreversible, experimental transgender care for children could be enforced. 

The Sixth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Cincinnati, Ohio granted an emergency appeal from Tennessee to allow the legislation to go into effect. Previously, a judge struck blocked components of the law, which Townhall covered.

“The case is far from over, but this is a big win,” Tennessee Attorney General Jonathan Skrmetti said in a statement. “The court of appeals lifted the injunction, meaning the law can be fully enforced, and recognized that Tennessee is likely to win the constitutional argument and the case.”

Reportedly, the ruling is preliminary and will be in effect until the appeals court conducts a full review of the appeal. The case should be resolved by Sept. 30.

Gender reassignment therapy is a money-maker for the medical industry. A person who changes their gender as a young person will be on medication for the rest of their life to maintain that change. There will also be medical complications from that change.

In June 2015, PBS reported:

The physical changes that hormones bring about are irreversible, making the decision more weighty than taking puberty blockers. Some of the known side effects of hormones include things that might sound familiar: acne and changes in mood. Patients are also warned that they may be at higher risk for heart disease or diabetes later in life. The risk of blood clots increases for those who start estrogen. And the risk for cancer is an unknown, but it is included in the warnings doctors give their patients.

Another potential dilemma facing transgender children, their families and their doctors is this: Taking cross hormones can reduce fertility. And there isn’t enough research to find out of it is reversible or not. So when children make the decision to start taking hormones, they have to consider whether they ever want to have biological children.

These are not decisions young teenagers are equipped to make. The drugs and medical procedures need to be postponed until a person is mature enough to comprehend the risks of what they are doing.

A Doctor Recognizes The Truth

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On Saturday, The Daily Caller posted an article about Dr. Susan Bradley, a Canadian psychiatrist and pioneer in child gender dysphoria treatment. The Doctor was interviewed by The Daily Caller and stated that she now opposes the popular model of affirming children’s transgender identities and putting them on puberty blockers–something she once supported.

The article reports:

Bradley started a pediatric gender clinic in 1975 aimed at treating children with gender dysphoria — a deep sense of discomfort with one’s body and biological sex — in which she offered a therapy-focused approach; most patients outgrew their feelings of being transgender over time, she told the DCNF. Around 2005, the clinic began prescribing puberty blockers to gender-dysphoric children as a way to alleviate their distress, a model which has since become widely adopted by medical establishments around the world, including in the U.S.

Bradley, who is now in her early eighties, expressed regret that the clinic had participated in the administration of puberty blockers for gender dysphoria, which she now believes can cement a child’s sense of confusion out of which they would likely otherwise grow. She also expressed concern about the drugs’ side effects.

“We were wrong,” she said. “They’re not as reversible as we always thought, and they have longer term effects on kids’ growth and development, including making them sterile and quite a number of things affecting their bone growth.”

The article notes:

Bradley believes transitioning is beneficial for some adults and says some patients consider it the best thing they’ve ever done for themselves, but that the metrics of success, even in terms of patient satisfaction, are complicated. One of her patients transitioned from female to male, married a woman who had been a childhood friend and seemed happy and satisfied, but later in life pursued a very costly phalloplasty surgery; despite appearing “very masculine,” the patient was never fully satisfied and was always pursuing further bodily improvements, according to Bradley.

Another patient Bradley worked with transitioned from male to female but eventually told the psychiatrist he was no longer trans and was in a relationship with another man. This made Bradley question if transitioning was really just about seeking acceptance for some patients.

The article concludes:

Advocates for medical gender transitions for children argue that puberty blockers can diminish the distress a gender dysphoric child experiences as a result of puberty and can reduce the need for later surgeries or hormonal interventions by preventing the acquisition of some traits associated with their biological sex, such as a deep voice in a male patient.

“Anxiety drains away,” Dr. Norman Spack, a leader in the push for puberty blocker use in gender dysphoric patients, told The New York Times. “You can see these kids being so relieved.”

The Center for Addiction and Mental Health, formerly the Clarke Institute of Toronto, did not respond to the Daily Caller News Foundation’s request for comment.

There is stress involved in growing up. Learning how to deal with that stress is part of growing up. Dealing with that stress results in adults who know how to handle stress. We have done our children a great disservice by trying to protect them from stress.

Being Investigated For Protecting Children

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On Thursday, Just the News posted an article about a Justice Department subpoena requesting over five years of information from the Eagle Forum of Alabama about its legislative activities.

The article reports:

The Eagle Forum of Alabama, a conservative nonprofit, has worked since 2017 on the “Alabama Vulnerable Child Compassion and Protection Act,” which went into effect as law in May 2022.

The legislation made it a felony for physicians to perform sex-change surgeries, to administer or prescribe puberty blockers or hormones to minors.

The law also prohibits school personnel from withholding information from parents about their child’s sexual identity.

The group, which filed a motion Wednesday to quash the subpoena, said the Justice Department’s request “is broad, intrusive, and meant to harass.”

The article concludes:

Eagle Forum President Kristen Ullman said the subpoena has much larger implications.

“If the DOJ can weaponize a subpoena, any American can be unduly burdened and prevented from engaging in our democratic republic form of government. Freedom of speech and freedom of association will be squelched,” she said. “If the Department of Justice doesn’t like your viewpoint it may target you next.”

Would the Department of Justice be investigating the group if they were working in support of abortion? That is the question that needs to be answered.