Tag Archives: U. S. Department of Health and Human Services

What Has Happened To Many Unaccompanied Minors Crossing The Border

Posted on by

On Wednesday, The Washington Free Beacon posted an article about an investigation by the Labor Department’s Office of Inspector General into violations of child labor laws involving unaccompanied minor children who have crossed the southern border into America.

The article reports:

It’s the latest development in a scandal involving the Labor Department, the Department of Health and Human Services, and the White House.

The New York Times first broke the story in April, when it showed documents proving the administration was quickly releasing unaccompanied migrant children into the country by the thousands. Many of those children ended up working grueling jobs, often for long hours and in dangerous conditions where they worked with chemicals and industrial equipment.

The probe comes amid rising cases of illegal child labor, Bloomberg reported:

Agency officials said in July that over the past 10 months alone, the DOL’s wage division has concluded 765 cases involving 4,474 children employed in violation of federal child labor laws. Overall, the department reported that it’s seen a 69% increase child labor violations from 2018 and 2022.

Sen. Josh Hawley (R., Mo.) slammed the Biden administration in June for its failure to address the widespread crisis.

“This administration has let tens of thousands of children be sold into slavery,” Hawley said. “They are doing nothing about it.”

How many times have you heard Democrats say that they were doing something ‘for the children”? Closing the southern border would be one thing that would definitely protect many children.

The article notes:

Five former HHS employees said they were pushed out of the agency after they raised concerns about children’s safety.

The Times report also implicated former domestic policy adviser Susan Rice. Rice and her team reportedly failed to act, even as administration staffers called for stricter vetting of the sponsors migrant children were placed with to prevent human trafficking. A week after the Times report, the White House announced that Rice would step down.

Has anyone in the mainstream media reported this?

Good News For Parents

Posted on by

On Saturday, The Epoch Times reported that a federal appeals court has permanently blocked the Biden administration’s bid to force doctors and insurers to perform or pay for gender-transition procedures even if they object on grounds of conscience and medical judgment, with the court basing its decision on constitutional protections of religious freedom.

The article reports:

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the 8th Circuit issued a unanimous ruling (pdf) on Dec. 9 blocking the controversial U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) transgender mandate.

Issued in 2016, the mandate interpreted the Affordable Care Act in a way that required doctors to perform gender-transition procedures on any patient, including children, even if the doctor was convinced the procedure could harm the patient.

The procedures being used to perform gender-transition have long-term effects. Children need to be left alone to go through the challenges of puberty and high school. If a child is struggling with not being accepted by their peers, then counseling may be needed, but not life-altering surgery or medication.

The article continues:

The mandate also required the vast majority of private insurance companies and many employers to cover the costs of gender-transition therapy or face penalties.

The HHS’s own panel of medical experts acknowledged that gender-transition procedures can be harmful and in many cases not medically justified, with HHS determining that Medicare and Medicaid should not be forced to cover such procedures.

Research has shown that gender-transition procedures carry significant risk for children, including loss of bone density, heart disease, and cancer.

The article also notes:

Besides the Religious Sisters of Mercy v. Becerra, Becket also represents plaintiffs in a separate but related case initially filed in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Texas.

In that case, known as Franciscan Alliance v. Becerra, the Texas court issued a preliminary ruling in December 2016 that the mandate was a likely violation of religious freedom but stopped short of issuing an order that would have blocked the policy from being applied.

After an appeal by the challengers seeking a permanent injunction to block the mandate, the court agreed in 2021 to grant permanent relief to doctors and hospitals.

The Biden administration appealed but lost.

On Aug. 26, 2022, the 5th Circuit Court of Appeals affirmed the district court’s decision and issued a permanent injunction that allows doctors and hospitals to decide whether to carry out gender-transition procedures based on their conscience and medical judgment.

“The government’s attempt to force doctors to go against their consciences was bad for patients, bad for doctors, and bad for religious liberty,” Goodrich said in a statement.

The Biden administration has made transgender issues a key policy pillar, advocating strongly on behalf of people seeking gender-transition procedures and therapies and opposing policies like so-called “conversion therapy,” as it’s dubbed by critics, and “change-allowing therapy,” as it’s often referred to by advocates.

Transgender surgery or medication is not a harmless way to help our children deal with adolescence. It is a current fad that will have many negative results in the future.

When Is An Emergency Not An Emergency?

Posted on by

On Friday, MSN reported that President Biden plans to renew the COVID-19 pandemic status as a public health emergency in January. The public health emergency was expected to expire in January. The article notes that the extension will provide free tests, vaccines and treatments. What the article does not mention is that fact that the Covid vaccine is only authorized under emergency use. If the emergency goes away, then any vaccine mandates that are still remaining will also have to go away.

The article reports:

The possibility of a winter surge in COVID cases and the need for more time to transition out of the public health emergency to a private market were two factors that contributed to the decision, the official said.

The public health emergency was initially declared in January 2020, when the coronavirus pandemic began, and has been renewed each quarter since. But the government in August began signaling it planned to let it expire in Jan.

The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services has promised to give states 60 days notice before letting the emergency expire, which would have been on Friday if it did not plan on renewing it again in January.

Doesn’t it make more sense to declare an emergency when there actually is one instead of when there might be a possibility of one? It should also be noted that many of those in government are enjoying the extra authority the public health emergency gives them. That is another reason we need to end the emergency.