White House contradicts itself on transgender surgeries for minors

The Biden administration said gender-affirming surgical care should be reserved for adults, not minors.

“These are deeply personal decisions and we believe these surgeries should be limited to adults,” a White House spokesperson told the 19th News. 

“We continue to support gender-affirming care for minors, which represents a continuum of care, and respect the role of parents, families, and doctors in these decisions,” they added. 

The statement sparked an immediate backlash from LGBT advocates, accusing the administration of betraying its pledge to support transgender youth and interfering in private medical choices.

“The Biden administration is flat wrong on this,” Kelley Robinson, president of the Human Rights Campaign, told the Hill. “It’s wrong on the science and wrong on the substance. It’s also inconsistent with other steps the administration has taken to support transgender youth.” 

The organization has endorsed President Joe Biden and donated millions to his reelection campaign. 

Allison Scott, director of impact and innovation at the Campaign for Southern Equality, described the administration’s statement as “cowardly.” 

“It is a troubling concession to the right-wing assault on transgender Americans, falling for their false narratives about surgical care and betraying a commitment to equality and trust in the medical community,” Scott said in a statement. 

“Government has no business inserting itself into private medical decisions that should be exclusively between patients, their providers, and the patient’s parents or guardians,” Scott added. 

The administration’s statement contradicts the president’s previous support for minors’ gender-affirming care and opposition to state laws restricting or banning such treatments for youth.

“It is dangerous to begin endorsing categorical bans or limits on healthcare, and there is no justification for restricting transgender youth’s access to the very same care that many cisgender youth receive every year – that’s literally the definition of discrimination,” Scott continued. “We demand the Biden Administration retract this thoughtless statement and work to undo its damage.” 

Last month, in response to the Biden administration’s request, the Supreme Court announced it would review the constitutionality of bans on gender-affirming medical care for minors.

“It’s wrong that extreme officials are pushing hateful bills targeting transgender children, terrifying families, and criminalizing doctors. These are our kids. These are our neighbors. It’s cruel and it’s callous,” the spokesperson said in their recent statement, quoting a statement Biden made last summer. 

Last week, it was revealed that the staff of Adm. Rachel Levine, assistant secretary for health at the Department of Health and Human Services, called for the World Professional Association for Transgender Health to remove age limit guidelines for transgender surgeries on minors.

WPATH’s draft guidelines from 2021 proposed age minimums of 14 for hormone treatments, 15 for mastectomies, 16 for breast augmentation or facial surgeries, and 17 for surgeries on genitals or reproductive organs.

However, gender-affirming medical care for minors would only be advised for those with a “well-documented” history of gender incongruence and who show “the emotional and cognitive maturity” to consent to treatment.

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Since 2021, 25 states led by Republicans have enacted laws prohibiting transgender minors from accessing gender-affirming healthcare.

The Washington Examiner contacted the White House for comment.