Gender affirming care (GAC) for minors is a hot topic in the US and globally. It tends to be extremely polarizing with people either in strong support of it or firmly against it. Ultimately though, it is not up to any one of us to decide whether or not it should be allowed. It is the choice of the state in which one lives.
In total, 23 states have adopted laws that ban or severely limit gender-affirming care for minors. Luckily many of these have temporarily allowed or there is legislation in process to allow GAC
One of the main reasons GAC is banned for minors is the risk of death in surgery, but one would argue that this applies to all surgeries undergone by a person. Therefore this leaves the main argument we hear from those in support of banning GAC, which is one of regret.
Many people believe that trans youth are simply too young to understand the extent to which this will change them, and their lives. Ultimately though, when we look at the facts that have been presented to us, this is simply untrue.
The National Library of Medicine tells us that, “A total of 27 studies, pooling 7928 transgender patients who underwent any type of GAS, were included. The pooled prevalence of regret after GAS was 1%.” Only one percent. Yet legislation has been passed in 23 states claiming that they are doing what is best for our country’s youth.
Along with this, one longitudinal study of over 6,000 transgender individuals in the US indicates that the highest risk of suicide is among those under 18 years of age. GAS can provide life-saving confidence and relife to transgender people, no matter the age.
The National Library of Medicine has done countless studies to prove this, including one that showed, “Prior to initiating unspecified gender-affirming treatment(s), 73.3% of the sample reported a history of suicidal ideation; this percentage dropped to 43.4% following the initiation of gender-affirming treatment.”
So what is the argument to keep these laws if it is proven that the smallest percentage of people regret it, and it can be shown as lifesaving medical care?
Often we see fear and bias being masked under some type of savior-ship and claimed good intentions. When the statistics presented show that less than 1 percent of all people regret GAS, and that it actually decreases rates of suicide, why not leave it up to personal discretion.
It is already up to the parents with every surgery for a minor, and if a surgeon decides to not proceed they are not being forced to.
These laws generalize a very personal issue, one that should be considered at an individual level. While I do agree that this choice should be one which said person has great confidence in, I also believe that it has nothing to do with the government.
Medical privacy is one of our rights as US citizens, and what a minor needs to feel safe and comfortable in their surroundings and body should be up to them, their parents, and medical professionals only.
Luckily we are starting to see a rise in blocks on these legislations as awareness about the issue spreads. There will always be outlier cases in which something goes wrong, and that is a tragedy, but the same could be said for any surgery, all the way down to a simple cavity drilling.
Currently the biggest issue facing trans people in this country is hate crimes and fear, not surgery that will help affirm their true gender.
If the government really wanted to protect trans youth, they would pass legislation to try and mend the dangers facing every trans person in the US right now. Hate crimes against LGBTQ+ people have increased 46 percent since 2022, which is an absolutely staggering number.
Instead of claiming to care about the trans community by passing harmful legislation, the Federal Government should be addressing the real harms at hand. All in all one must understand that while this topic is controversial in terms of beliefs, the statistics are not.
GAC is rarely regretted and is in fact life saving, while the real problem lies in people who hate others based on fear, and that is what really needs to be addressed.
