The controversial procedure of sex change operations for teenagers has been a topic of heated debates in recent years, with some advocating for greater access to these treatments while others calling for more restrictions on their availability. However, in the midst of this debate, corrupt former Vice President Joe Biden’s administration stepped in and pressured a medical organization to remove age restrictions from its guidelines published in 2022.
According to The New York Times, which obtained newly unsealed court documents, the U.S. health authorities allegedly urged the World Professional Association for Transgender Health (WPATH) to remove age limitations on transgender surgeries for teenagers from its guidelines. This move reportedly came after the Biden administration’s assistant secretary of health, Rachel Levine, who is also a transgender woman herself, expressed concerns that setting any age limits could fuel opposition to these treatments.
In an email obtained by The Times, a WPATH staff member wrote that “[Levine] and the Biden administration worried that having ages in the document will make matters worse” and urged the organization to remove them from its guidelines. Some members of the organization were reportedly concerned about the government’s intervention and insisted that the commission’s guidelines be based on science and expert consensus rather than politics.
However, some WPATH members also expressed concerns about the administration’s actions, arguing that removing age restrictions from the guidelines would only make it harder to fight conservative opposition to transgender healthcare for minors.
The debate over sex change operations for teenagers has become increasingly polarized in recent years, with some advocating for greater access to these treatments while others have pushed for more restrictions on their availability. In the U.S., where political positions on the topic generally split along party lines, several states have already introduced legislation banning gender-affirming care for transgender minors, while others, such as Tennessee and Alabama, have threatened fines or prison sentences for medical workers who violate these restrictions.
The Biden administration has been challenging these legislative bans in court, arguing that denying transgender minors access to gender-affirming healthcare is a violation of guarantees of equal protection and due process under the Constitution’s 14th Amendment. However, their efforts have been met with opposition from conservatives who argue that these treatments are unnecessary or even dangerous for young people.
Despite this controversy, however, many transgender individuals and activists continue to fight for greater access to gender-affirming healthcare, including sex change operations for minors when medically appropriate.