Federal Officials Act to Protect Children from Sex-Change Procedures

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The week before Christmas, federal officials announced steps to protect children from sex-change surgeries, puberty blockers, and cross-sex hormones.

The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services said it would propose a series of regulatory actions to protect children from these dangerous procedures.

Secretary of Health Robert F. Kennedy, Jr., issued an official declaration, saying:

Sex-rejecting procedures for children and adolescents are neither safe nor effective as a treatment modality for gender dysphoria, gender incongruence, or other related disorders in minors, and therefore, fail to meet professional recognized standards of health care. For the purposes of this declaration, “sex rejecting procedures” means pharmaceutical or surgical interventions, including puberty blockers, cross sex hormones, and surgeries such as mastectomies, vaginoplasties, and other procedures, that attempt to align an individual’s physical appearance or body with an asserted identity that differs from the individual’s sex.

The federal Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) will also release a notice of proposed rulemaking to prevent hospitals from receiving Medicaid and Medicare funds if they perform sex-rejecting procedures on children.

All of this is really good news.

Public health experts and policymakers in the U.S., the U.K., Sweden, Finland, and other nations have found that science simply does not support giving puberty blockers and cross-sex hormones to kids. These drugs and procedures carry serious risks — including infertility, sexual dysfunction, impaired bone density, and cardiovascular problems.

Whistleblowers have come forward to testify about how they were rushed through gender transitions as children without understanding the procedures’ risks, consequences, or alternatives.

Today we know pro-LGBT activists and medical organizations have been citing each other’s work in a circular pattern for years, manufacturing a fake consensus to support their agenda.

For the past 12 months, federal officials have consistently worked to protect children from these dangerous procedures.

Last year, President Trump issued an executive order prohibiting federal funding from being used for sex-change procedures on kids, and the federal government is expected to propose new rules that could help protect children from sex-change procedures nationwide.

Over the summer, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) announced a public inquiry into whether U.S. doctors and clinics may have deceived parents and children about the risks of these procedures. The U.S. Department of Justice also subpoenaed doctors and medical facilities involved in performing sex-change procedures on minors.

In September, the U.S. Department of Justice sent Congress the federal Victims of Chemical or Surgical Mutilation Act. The proposed federal law would generally prevent doctors, hospitals, and clinics from performing sex-change surgeries on children or giving them puberty blockers or cross-sex hormones.

In 2021, lawmakers in Arkansas passed the Save Adolescents from Experimentation (SAFE) Act. This good law generally prohibits doctors from performing sex-change procedures on children or giving them puberty blockers and cross-sex hormones. The SAFE Act was upheld in federal court last year and is protecting children in Arkansas right now.

It’s good to see federal officials taking serious steps to protect children from sex-rejecting procedures.

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

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Federal Banking Regulator Confirms Major Banks Engaged in Debanking

Current Events

The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency released a report last month confirming that America’s nine largest banks systematically debanked customers over their political beliefs.

The OCC’s preliminary findings show that between 2020 and 2023, JPMorgan Chase, Bank of America, Citibank, Wells Fargo, U.S. Bank, Capital One, PNC Bank, TD Bank, and BMO Bank all maintained policies restricting access to banking services for certain industries.

These banks imposed restrictions on sectors including oil and gas exploration, coal mining, firearms, private prisons, tobacco manufacturers, and digital assets simply because these activities were “contrary to [the bank’s] values” or might have posed a “reputation risk” to the bank.

Over the past four years, congressional testimony and news stories have highlighted how federal officials and financial institutions targeted conservative organizations through debanking.

Conservatives deemed “high risk” could have their bank accounts closed without warning and without explanation

During the Biden Administration, the U.S. Treasury Department gave financial institutions an analysis titled, “Bankrolling Bigotry” that listed legitimate, conservative groups such as Alliance Defending Freedom, the American College of Pediatricians, American Family Association, Eagle Forum, Family Research Council, Liberty Counsel, National Organization for Marriage, and the Ruth Institute as “Hate Groups” alongside the KKK and the American Nazi Party.

We also now know the U.S. Treasury Department gave banks and other financial institutions guidance that encouraged them to comb through transactions for terms like “Bass Pro Shops,” “Cabela’s,” and “Dick’s Sporting Goods” when looking for “Homegrown Violent Extremism.”

In 2021 Family Council’s credit card processor — a company owned by JPMorgan Chase — terminated our account after designating our organization as “high risk.”

At 10:29 AM on Wednesday, July 7, 2021, our office received a terse email from our credit card processor saying, “Unfortunately, we can no longer support your business. We wish you all the luck in the future, and hope that you find a processor that better fits your payment processing needs.”

Within 60 seconds, Family Council could no longer accept donations online. The processor never explained why we were labeled “high risk.” All we can do is speculate that our conservative principles and our public policy work might have had something to do with the decision to close our account.

Unfortunately, this is not an isolated incident. Other organizations have had similar experiences as well. In fact, corporate shareholders, state attorneys general, members of Congress, and news outlets have all expressed concerns over conservatives being wrongly labeled as “high risk” or “hate groups” and subsequently debanked.

It’s worth pointing out in August, President Trump signed an executive order to protect fair banking for all Americans, and JPMorgan Chase and Bank of America have taken steps to prevent politically motivated debanking.

Family Council is grateful to the many people and organizations who have stood up against debanking in recent years. After all, banks that are too big to fail should also be too big to discriminate. Nobody should have their bank account closed for what they believe.

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

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