Recently, Dr. Rachel Levine was questioned by senators during the confirmation hearing for her to become the new Assistant Health and Human Services Director. If she were confirmed to this position, she would be the first transgendered person confirmed by the Senate; however, she assuredly would not be the first murderer confirmed. Dare we call this progress?… Notably, Senator Rand Paul of Kentucky used his time for questions to speak out about “genital mutilation” and the recent push to allow minors to make the life-altering decision to undergo sexual reassignment and hormone replacement. Paul began his statement with a list of facts about how dangerous and permanent these changes are and proceeded to ask this question, “Dr. Levine, do you believe that minors are capable of making such a life-changing decision as changing one’s sex?” To everyone’s shock and dismay, Dr. Levine did not answer the question, but instead rattled off a nervous stock response she was no-doubt coached to give. Senator Paul would not be deterred, and he asked the question yet again. She repeated her “answer” almost verbatim and slightly more nervously. Senator Paul then pointed out for the record that Dr. Levine refused to answer the question or to condemn allowing minors to make these radical and permanent decisions. Senator Paul was clearly trying to make a very important point, and touched on a few things during his opening to the question, but due to lack to time, he was unable to talk about it in depth. So I would like to make a few points very clear.
First, during the rehearsed response, Dr. Levine made mention of “robust research” on hormone therapies and sexual reassignment surgery. The fact of the matter is that in the grand scheme of things, this research is still very new and inconclusive. These modern practices have not been used long enough to know the long-term effects, and some of the surgeries are still dangerous and experimental. Trans people like Blaire White read and report on this information consistently. And this is for adults! This type of research in children is extremely fresh, and in my opinion as an academic who works in experimental research, it is also unethical. For a study like this to be allowed and funded, there are several entities that must sign off on it. In order to get Institutional Review Board (IRB) approval and grant funding for any medical experiment, much less one involving minors, there must be sufficient evidence that this work is both beneficial and not harmful to the participants. When dealing with minors, the onus of proof is exponentially higher. The fact of the matter is there is simply not enough precedent or evidence for this research to have been approved. Furthermore, parents must sign-off on any kind of experiment done on their child. Undoubtedly, these medical professionals are misrepresenting the information given to these naive and gullible parents in the consent forms they must sign, another piece of the process that must be approved by IRB.
There is another huge problem that Senator Paul brings up which Dr. Levine refuses to acknowledge. In the US, we do not allow people under the age of eighteen to purchase tobacco products; we do not allow people under the age of twenty-one to purchase alcohol; we do not allow people under the age of eighteen to vote. While there are some that argue these points, the long-standing reason for adhering to them is that people under certain ages cannot make informed and responsible decisions in these areas. However, Dr. Levine and the people of her deluded ilk are advocating that prepubescent children have enough knowledge of gender, sexuality, and life to make the permanent and life-altering choices of undergoing hormone therapy or sexual reassignment surgery. Dr. Levine even advocates that minors with no legal guardian should be able to make these choices on his/her own. Young minds are extremely impressionable and often easily swayed. I know that as a child struggling with my sexuality and being a little more feminine than most boys my age, I questioned my own gender when I first learned that transgenderism existed. I was young and operating off of stereotypes and prototypes of what I considered gender to be. To think that if I had felt comfortable enough to speak up at that age and undergone these treatments without much questioning or pushback is understatedly frightening. Furthermore, there are dozens of stories of young people who have started hormone therapies and have regretted it, choosing instead to de-transition. Many of them try to speak out, but they are vilified or silenced.
Dr. Levine was nominated to this position due to identity politics and to fulfill a quota in the appointments of the Biden administration. In the left’s eyes, the fact that she is transgendered is enough to nullify all of the heinous and dangerous things she has done and stands for. She removed her own mother from a nursing home facility while sending COVID patients into it. That was a premeditated decision in which she knew she was putting people in harm’s way. Now she is openly advocating for children and adolescents to undergo harmful and unethical procedures in the name of progress. Any senator that votes to confirm her appointment should be called out and sent packing.