Panel follows science in protecting children

Blog: Between The Lines

Open Access

Abstract

All the ignorance, fibbing, and emoting doesn't change
the facts that make Republican state Rep. Gabe Firment's
HB 463
worth enacting, if not vitally so, into law.

The bill would prohibit any procedure that physically
or hormonally changes the sexual physiology of a minor, except in the very rare
instances of disorder of sex development or dealing with the consequences of
previous attempts to change sex. Science unimpeachably
supports
the proposition behind the bill that these permanent alterations to children almost
always cause more harm than good, and out of an abundance of caution under the
watchful waiting protocol typically practiced in Europe that plays out to allow for developing physical, mental, and maturity until adulthood for those who at some
point believe they want to try to change their sex, this protects children from rash decision-making by them and others affecting their adolescent
lives.

Unfortunately, this area of investigation suffers from
a plague of poor research quality. Common problems of these studies feature
unrepresentative samples, lack of adequate controls, and unjustified inferential
leaps. The efforts that do the best in avoiding these pitfalls shatter common myths
circulated by advocates of making permanent physical changes to children who at
some point identify as transgender.

One myth concerning about these children is they
have an elevated desire for suicide and related indicators of harm solely
because they feel their identity mismatched with their sex. In fact, that risk
is comparable to that of other psychological conditions such as depression, anorexia,
and autism that predisposes them to suicide, and in some cases differ little significantly
from the population without these conditions.

Where elevated levels are observed in large part occur
because of the high degree of association of transgender identification with
these and other psychological disorders. (Also associated: natal sex, where
girls are significantly more likely to report a desire to change sex.) As for a
counter hypothesis that societal attitudes create a stigma driving confused
children to self-harm, quality research simply doesn't support that and this notion
runs counter to experiences in previous historical periods where even greater societal
pressures operated on children to conform to certain sex roles yet the child
suicide rate was much lower.

The best, most recent research reveals that transgendered-identified
youth respond well to traditional psychotherapy in alleviating psychological
distress, whereas long-run studies of those who underwent medical transition show
this doesn't reduce and perhaps even exacerbates distress. Other research
indicates that social contagion or psychological difficulties with
parents encourages adopting identification differing from sex as a response
to these stimuli.

Another myth is that the rate of suicide and other
contemplated harmful behavior decreases with physical alterations. Collectively,
quality research suggests a "honeymoon" period in the short run, but the sparse
long-term research available paints a disturbing picture where harmful thinking
returns, with those who underwent surgery or medication having a significantly higher
rate of suicide attempts, pointing to the underlying mental health causes
associated with a desire to change sex.

Finally, there is the myth that those who do undergo
physical transition overwhelmingly are satisfied. Again, when reviewing the
best research, there is no evidence of this, and there is plenty of anecdotal
evidence demonstrating a significant number of those altered surgically or
medicinally having regrets. Further, any observed childhood dysphoria if left
untreated physically typically turns
into desisting from a desire to change sex and by adulthood those who had it
most likely will adopt homosexuality.

In other words, given the state of quality
research, claims that preference must be given to the wishes of children at a
given moment that they should undergo physical and endocrinological mutilation
are reckless and irresponsible, built upon myth and ideological opportunism,
and that medical professionals complicit in this shamefully either are ignorant
about the area in which they assert to have expertise or they are driven by
motives unrecognizable from those associated with the Hippocratic Oath.
Regrettably, several such individuals appeared to testify against the bill.

(Also deserving of opprobrium is a study,
requested by a resolution Firment had pass last year, by the Department of
Health utilizing Medicaid data which it largely contracted out that did provide
some useful data but completely botched an assessment of outcomes, due to search
criteria that ignored research quality and limited substantially the number evaluated
while including studies with the problems listed above. This stood in stark
contrast to a much more comprehensive and careful study
compiled for the Florida Agency for Healthcare Administration last year that
didn't largely waste taxpayer dollars.)

The emoting part was left to a parade of allegedly
potentially aggrieved adults over these restrictions. They represent the
children of intellectual trends that have invaded the academy and public square
that place primacy on people's feelings and perceptions rather than evidence-based
data and critical thinking in the making of policy, a mindset that increasingly
marks the thinking of the political left.

Even so, some leftist allies didn't buy it. This
week, the House
Health and Welfare Committee passed
the bill by substitute with only a couple of Democrats, state Reps. Jason Hughes
and Larry
Selders, and the most roguish Republican in the chamber, state Rep. Joe Stagni,
opposing the other 14 members (including recent new Democrat Roy Daryl Adams).
This poses a big political problem for Democrat Gov. John Bel Edwards,
who two years ago said he
would veto that kind of bill and others restricting a transgender agenda.

That's because last
year with Democrats aiding Republicans, he capitulated on a bill he vetoed the
year before that prevented biological males from competing in athletic events restricted
to biological females and also had
a veto overturned, demonstrating if the numbers are enough he can't stop
bills from becoming law. The committee vote's overwhelming nature compels the
bill's moving forward until it becomes law, and rightly so. Children's welfare
and lives depend upon it.