Social media users have shared posts online claiming that Dr. Rachel Levine, former Pennsylvania State Secretary of Health and now President Joe Biden’s new assistant health secretary, believes children should be allowed to undergo gender reassignment surgery without parental consent. There is no evidence to support this assertion.
Examples of postings that make the claim can be seen here and here. The reports read: “Dr. Rachel Levine, U.S. Assistant Secretary of Health, believes that all children should be allowed to choose their gender and have access to government-funded sex reassignment surgeries without notice or parental authorization. ”
The reports probably refer to an exchange of words between Senator Rand Paul and Levine during her Senate confirmation hearing on February 25, 2021. A video of the exchange can be seen on C-SPAN here .
Paul starts with the C-SPAN clip that says: gender mutilation has been condemned by the World Health Organization, the United Nations Children’s Fund, the United Nations Population Fund. “Reuters could not find statements from the WTO or the UN condemning the operation of gender reassignment for transgender people, and search for ‘gender mutilation’ and these agencies lead to articles on female genital mutilation, a very different practice condemned by both agencies is (here here, here, www.unfpa.org/born-complete).
In the exchange, Paul asks Levine if she supports that minors are able to go over and calls the procedure ‘gender mutilation’.
At 1:33 Paul asks: “Dr. Levine, do you believe that minors are capable of making such a life-changing decision as changing a gender? ‘
Levine replies, ‘Well, Senator, thank you for your interest in this question. Transgender medicine is a very complex and nuanced field with extensive research and standards of care developed, and if I am fortunate enough to be confirmed as the Assistant Secretary of Health, I will look forward to working with you and your office work to your office and discuss the details of the standards for transgender medicine care. ”
Paul then says: “The specific question was about minors. Let us be a little more specific as you eluded the question. Do you support the government that intervenes to replace the parent’s consent to give puberty blockers, cross-sex hormones and / or amputation of breasts and genitals? ”
Paul then describes a story of a young girl who later regretted the transition. At 3:50 Paul asks again: “Will you make a more firm decision whether minors should be involved in these decisions or not? ‘
Levine responds with almost exactly the same answer, explaining that transgender medicine is complicated and that she will discuss it with Paul when she is confirmed.
Levine did not answer the question, nor did he confirm or deny the statement presented in these posts that minors should have access to an overarching gender reassignment surgery without parental consent.
Levine has written and talked in the past (here, here) about supporting transgender children. On January 24, 2020, she tweeted here A CNN article that reviewed a study that found that puberty blockers are life-saving drugs for trans teens with mental health problems. However, Reuters found no evidence that Levine said she supported it without giving parental consent.
Paul’s interrogation was criticized, as reported here and here.
As reported by the Thomson Reuters Foundation in February 2020, a global increase in the number of teens seeking gender reassignment has spurred a series of court cases around the age at which young people are able to switch – and who has the last word. Gender reassignment surgery is widely restricted to adults over 18 (here).
The World Professional Association for Transgender Health (WPATH)’s care standards explain the three categories of physical interventions for adolescents. It consists of completely reversible interventions such as hormone suppression to delay puberty, partially reversible interventions such as hormone therapy, and irreversible interventions such as surgical procedures.
The association recommends that “the shift from one stage to the next should not take place until there has been sufficient time for adolescents and their parents to fully assimilate the consequences of earlier interventions.” Gender surgeries should only take place when the individual has reached the age of majority to give consent in a particular country and according to the association has lived in their gender identity for at least 12 consecutive months.
Puberty-suppressing medicine is reversible, as outlined in a 2016 report by the Human Rights Campaign Foundation, American College of Osteopathic Pediatricians and the American Academy of Pediatrics here. The report categorizes hormone therapy and sex reassignment surgery for “older adolescents” and “adults,” not for children.
VERDICT
Missing context. Dr. Rachel Levine did not confirm or deny a question from Rand Paul as to whether she would support the most important parental consent for gender reassignment surgery for minors.
This article was produced by the Reuters Fact Check team. Read more about our fact-checking work here.
Correction 3 March 2021: Correction of paragraph 14 of “Reuters” to “the Thomson Reuters Foundation”