Legislation Would Help Protect Children from Medical Malpractice in Sex-Change Procedures

Current Events, Legislation, , ,

A bill filed at the Arkansas Legislature on Monday would help protect children from medical malpractice when it comes to sex-change procedures.

S.B. 199 by Sen. Gary Stubblefield (R – Branch) and Rep. Mary Bentley (R – Perryville) clarifies that a child who undergoes a sex-change procedure can sue the healthcare provider who performed procedure if the child suffers any physical, psychological, or emotional injury as a result.

Under S.B. 199, the child could file a lawsuit the if he or she experiences:

  • A physical or physiological injury from the sex-change procedure
  • A psychological or emotional injury from the sex-change procedure
  • An injury from treatments related to the sex-change procedure
  • An injury from the after-effects of the sex-change procedure

    A child who suffers one of these injuries from a sex-change procedure would have until the age of 48 to file a lawsuit against the healthcare provider, because some injuries from sex-change procedures may not become evident until well into adulthood.

    The bill also spells out informed-consent processes for sex-change procedures that healthcare providers can follow to help defend against the possibility of a lawsuit, and it clarifies that Arkansas law does not require healthcare professionals to perform sex-reassignment procedures.

    More and more, scientific evidence shows sex-reassignment procedures may be harmful to children. That is why it is important for our laws to protect children from these procedures and give them legal options they can follow if they are harmed by one of these sex-change procedures.

    Research published just last month calls into question the original studies that encouraged doctors to give puberty blockers and cross-sex hormones to children with gender dysphoria.

    In 2021 a major hospital in Sweden announced that it would no longer give puberty blockers and cross-sex hormones to kids.

    Last year the U.K.’s National Health Services closed its Tavistock gender clinic that gave puberty blockers and cross-sex hormones to children for many years. Many families have indicated their children were subjected to sex-reassignment at that clinic despite an obvious lack of scientific evidence in favor of the procedures and inadequate mental health screenings for children with gender dysphoria.

    A gender-identity clinic in Scotland faces similar accusations from former patients who say healthcare professionals rushed them into sex-change procedures.

    And last July the U.S. Food and Drug Administration finally added a warning label to puberty blockers in America after biological girls developed symptoms of tumor-like masses in the brain.

    S.B. 199 will help protect children from these dangerous sex-reassignment procedures, and it will provide them and their families with legal recourse if they are injured by a sex-change procedure.

    You Can Read S.B. 199 Here.

    Articles appearing on this website are written with the aid of Family Council’s researchers and writers.

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    New Study Shows That Giving Puberty Blockers and Cross-Sex Hormones to Kids May Be Rooted In Junk Science

    Transgender,

    A new study published in the Journal of Sex & Marital Therapy shows that giving puberty blockers and cross-sex hormones to children with gender dysphoria may actually be based on junk science.

    A set of studies released some years ago claimed to find children with gender dysphoria responded well to puberty blockers and cross-sex hormones.

    Those studies — sometimes called “the Dutch studies” — found that sex-reassignment helped alleviate gender dysphoria and improved mental health. Because of the Dutch studies, doctors and clinics in Europe and the U.S. adopted a model of giving puberty blockers and cross-sex hormones to children who disagreed with their biological sex.

    New research published this month calls the Dutch studies into question, and reveals the Dutch studies suffered from serious flaws — meaning that doctors and and clinics that give puberty blockers to children may be operating based on junk science.

    Researchers analyzing the Dutch studies found “methodological biases undermine the research.”

    First, the Dutch studies suffered from selection bias. The studies “[r]eported only the best-case scenarios at each stage of treatment: puberty blockers, cross-sex-hormones, and surgery. Those [children] who did not fare as well, or experienced problems, were not included in the research results.”

    Some commentators have compared this to pharmaceutical companies ignoring harmful side-effects when testing a new drug.

    The Dutch studies also asked patients opposite sets of questions before and after going through sex-reassignment. Changing the wording of the questions and how the answers were analyzed virtually guaranteed that the study would show improvements for patients who underwent sex-reassignment.

    After analyzing these flaws and others, researchers found that the Dutch studies are not the “gold standard” some people think they are when it comes to how doctors treat kids suffering from gender dysphoria.

    Over the past two years several gender clinics in Europe have abandoned the Dutch protocol of giving children puberty blockers and cross-sex hormones to help them transition from one sex to the other.

    In 2021 a major hospital in Sweden announced that it would no longer administer puberty blockers and cross-sex hormones to children.

    The U.K.’s National Health Services recently closed its Tavistock gender clinic that gave puberty blockers and cross-sex hormones to children for many years.

    The Tavistock facility faces the possibility of lawsuits from upwards of 1,000 families whose children were subjected to sex-reassignment despite an obvious lack of scientific evidence in favor of the procedures and inadequate mental health screenings for children with gender dysphoria.

    A gender-identity clinic in Scotland faces similar legal troubles from former patients who say they were rushed into sex-change procedures.

    Last July the U.S. Food and Drug Administration finally added a warning label to puberty blockers after biological girls developed symptoms of tumor-like masses in the brain.

    In other words, contrary to what many LGBT activists claim, the science surrounding sex-reassignment for children and teenagers is far from “settled.”

    In fact many experts agree that giving puberty blockers and cross-sex hormones to children is experimental, at best.

    In 2021 the Arkansas Legislature overwhelmingly passed the Save Adolescents From Experimentation (SAFE) Act.

    The SAFE Act is a good law that protects children in Arkansas from cross-sex hormones, puberty blockers, and sex-reassignment surgeries.

    However, the law has been tied up in court since the summer of 2021. We expect a decision over its constitutionality in the coming months.

    Testimony in the trial over the SAFE Act underscored several key points about gender dysphoria, including:

    • The science surrounding gender identity remain in flux.
    • The demographics of transgender youth is changing in ways that scientists do not yet understand.
    • Randomized clinical trials do not support the adolescent gender transition processes that many doctors in America use.

    Our state must protect children from puberty blockers, cross-sex hormones, and sex-change surgeries. Arkansas’ SAFE Act does exactly that. Scientific research increasingly shows lawmakers were right to pass the SAFE Act in 2021. We believe our federal courts ultimately will uphold this good law.

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    Trial Continues Over Arkansas’ SAFE Act

    Transgender, ,

    The federal lawsuit over Arkansas’ Save Adolescents From Experimentation (SAFE) Act is continuing this week.

    The SAFE Act is an excellent law that protects children from sex-reassignment procedures, puberty blockers, and cross-sex hormones.

    The Arkansas Legislature passed the SAFE Act in 2021, but last year U.S. District Judge James Moody issued a preliminary injunction temporarily blocking the state from enforcing the SAFE Act while a lawsuit over its constitutionality plays out in court.

    The Arkansas Attorney General’s office appealed that decision to the Eighth Circuit. In August a three-judge panel from the Eighth Circuit ruled that the law should remain blocked while the lawsuit progresses in Judge Moody’s court.

    Researchers do not know the long term effects that puberty blockers and cross-sex hormones have on kids.

    The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has never approved puberty blockers and cross-sex hormones for the purpose of gender transition.

    Doctors are giving these hormones to kids off-label, in a manner the FDA never intended.

    In July the U.S. Food and Drug Administration added a warning label to puberty blockers after biological girls developed symptoms of tumor-like masses in the brain.

    The U.K.’s National Health Services recently closed its Tavistock gender clinic that gave puberty blockers and cross-sex hormones to children for many years.

    The facility today faces the possibility of lawsuits from upwards of 1,000 families whose children were subjected to sex-reassignment despite an obvious lack of scientific evidence in favor of the procedures and inadequate mental health screenings for children with gender dysphoria.

    A gender-identity clinic in Scotland faces similar legal troubles from former patients who say they were rushed into sex-change procedures.

    Despite mounting evidence that sex-change hormones and procedures are not appropriate for children, the ACLU and others have asked the federal courts to strike down Arkansas’ SAFE Act.

    Several business interests and the Biden-Harris Administration also have joined the fight against Arkansas’ SAFE Act.

    Testimony in the trial over the SAFE Act has underscored several key points about gender dysphoria, including:

    • The science surrounding gender identity remain in flux.
    • The demographics of transgender youth is changing in ways that scientists do not yet understand.
    • Randomized clinical trials do not support the adolescent gender transition processes that many doctors in America use.

      Arkansas’ SAFE Act is a good law that protects children. We believe our courts will recognize that fact and uphold this good law as constitutional.

      Articles appearing on this website are written with the aid of Family Council’s researchers and writers.

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