Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., Compared sex reassignment surgery to “genital mutilation” during confirmation hearings Thursday for dr. Rachel Levine, President Joe Biden’s nominee as Assistant Secretary of Health.
If approved, Levine will become the first publicly transgender federal official to be confirmed by the U.S. Senate.
Paul, a former ophthalmologist, questioned Levine about the transitional care for transgender youth when he said that “gender mutilation is considered particularly serious because … it is almost always carried out on minors and is a violation of the rights of children. ”
Paul wrongly claimed to Levine that Levine supported ‘surgical destruction of a minor’s genitals, or did she believe that minors are capable of’ ‘making a life-changing decision such as changing your gender? ‘
Levine, a pediatrician, responded that transgender medicine ‘is a very complex and nuanced field with strong research and standards of care developed’, and promised to discuss the details when she is confirmed.
Paul continued his interrogation and asked if she supported the government’s ability to suppress a parent’s consent to give a child puberty blockers, cross-sex hormones and ‘amputation of breasts and genitals’. Levine gave a similar answer, which led Paul to accuse her of evading the question.
He further questions criticism of the prescription of hydroxychloroquine to treat Covid-19 by the same people who support hormones for transgender teens.
Dr. Colt Wasserman, a Fellow of Physicians for Reproductive Health who provides sex reassignment care to minor children, told NBC News that Paul’s questions and concerns “are not based on medical facts whatsoever.”
According to Wasserman, gender reassignment care is understood and supported by major medical associations and physicians, a life-affirming practice that brings patients, parents, and their providers together through an informed consent process to support gender-diverse youth in the medical environment on a wide range of ways, usually involving no procedure intervention. ”
“There is a lot of concern about surgery or irreversible decisions,” Wasserman said at the health care that transgender youth receive, but surgery is not a part of the care.
The World Professional Association for Transgender Health states in its standards of care for transgender adolescents that surgery “should not be performed until (i) patients have reached the legal age of majority in a given country, and (ii) patients continuously for about at least 12 months in the gender role corresponding to their gender identity. The standards add: ‘The age threshold should be seen as a minimum measure and not in itself an indication of active intervention.’ The legal age of majority in the US is at least 18
For example, the Duke Health Center for Child Care and Adolescents offers children under 16 therapies to delay puberty and hormone replacement therapy for 16 and older.
“During this time, your child should meet with their local therapist weekly to manage the emotional changes that occur during hormone therapy,” according to the clinic’s website.
It has also been found that access to gender reassignment care has a positive effect on the mental health of trans young people. A study published in January 2020 found that transgender people who use puberty blockers were lower as a result of suicidal thoughts than adults compared to transgender people who did not have access to them.
Rodrigo Heng-Lehtinen, deputy executive director of the National Center for Transgender Equality, said Paul’s language hurts Levine and all the trans people watching her audience.
“There is a lot of misinformation in particular about health care for especially transgender young people, but what is really important to know is that all the leading medical institutions have researched it and really realize that it is primary care,” Heng-Lehtinen said . . “It’s different for each transgender person, just because any form of medical care is different for each individual, and so it’s personalized, but it’s legal health care.”
Heng-Lehtinen cites the American Medical Association, the American Psychological Association, and the American Academy of Pediatrics as medical organizations that support the rights of transgender adolescents to receive appropriate care with the support of providers and parents.
Advocates for LGBTQ rights quickly condemned Paul’s comments and praised Levine’s testimony.
“While Rand Paul is a doctor, it is clear from his own history that he has no respect for science or medicine,” said Rep. Brian Sims, a Democratic and longtime ally of Levine, told NBC News in Pennsylvania.
Sims, who is gay and recently announced his bid for lieutenant governor, calls Levine a world-class health expert.
‘Although I’m still excited about what Dr. “Levine’s choice by President Biden means for her and the LGBTQ + communities, I’m even more excited about what it means for the country. ‘
Later in Thursday’s hearings, Sen. Patty Murray, D-Wash., Chair of the Senate Health Committee, Paul’s remarks ‘ideological and harmful misconceptions’.
But the American Principles Project, a conservative lobby group that opposes gay marriage, transgender rights and abortion, defends Paul’s “tremendous courage” to challenge Levine.
“It is important that the American people are aware of how extreme the nominees of Joe Biden are and what they are likely to support as members of its administration,” the group’s executive director, Terry Schilling, said in a statement. “Dr. Levine’s radical ideology should disqualify him from any position at HHS, but it is not important as assistant secretary of health, and we urge the Senate to reject this confirmation when it comes to voting.”
Levine was recently the secretary of health in Pennsylvania and helped manage the Commonwealth coronavirus response. She scored high points because she remained what The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette called “the calm in the eyes of the Covid-19 storm.” However, she has been criticized for her policy of returning nursing home residents treated for Covid-19 in hospitals to their facilities.
She is also no stranger to transphobic attacks by conservatives. In a Jan. 19 article on her nomination, far-right media broadcaster Breitbart Levine repeatedly sexually assaulted and killed Levine. (Deadnaming refers to the use of the former name of a transgender person.)
Shortly after the nomination, Pennsylvania State Representative Jeff Pyle posted a photo on Facebook mocking Levine’s appearance. After widespread criticism, Pyle, a Republican, deactivated his Facebook page, claiming he had ‘no idea’ that the mail would be ‘as badly received as it was’, reports The Associated Press.
Levine is the first transgender person to be nominated for a Senate-confirmed position, and ‘when you are the first transgender person, a target is put on your back,’ Heng-Lehtinen said.
“My heart really goes out to her because she had to endure the attacks, and I’m thankful that she’s as skilled at navigating it as she is, but that she does not have to do it,” he said. ‘For Senator Paul to make these myths and misconceptions about transgender people disappear and try to use them against her, I really show how much transphobia there is still. As historic as it is for a transgender person to be able to be before the Senate, and this is an important first step, it also reveals just how far we have to go. ”
Paul’s questions come at the end of a long week for LGBTQ advocates. The House on Thursday discussed and passed the Equality Act, and several states, including South Carolina and Utah, held hearings on bills that would ban transgender athletes from participating in school sports.
Nat Mulkey, a transgender medical student at Boston University who uses gender-neutral pronouns, said they had the privilege of being able to walk away from the news ‘when it feels personally offensive and harmful’, but that not every transgender person does it. . Mulkey said Paul’s language would negatively affect trans young people.
“It’s not a hyperbole or an exaggeration to say it’s deadly,” Mulkey said of the senator’s language. They said allowing young trans people to have an “authentic and private experience with their doctor to discuss these issues and not experience the invalidity at such a national level is so important to their health and their lives in the generally. “
The Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions must vote in favor of recommending Levine’s nomination for the full Senate. It is not yet known when the vote will take place.
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