As reported earlier by AFN, Do No Harm has a new "Stop the Harm" database on children's hospitals the group says are involved in gender manipulation of minors.
"Sadly, Pennsylvania has some of the worst-offending hospitals when it comes to minors, children, having these types of surgeries, [these] irreversible treatments," Dan Bartkowiak of Pennsylvania Family Institute tells AFN. "It's not something that should be happening in our state, yet this is happening."
Pennsylvania state legislators appearing at today's event included House Minority Leader Bryan Cutler (R-Lancaster), State Rep. Paul Schemel (R-Franklin), chair of the Subcommittee on Health Care, and PA State Senator Judy Ward (R-Blair County).
Supporters of the gender manipulation of minors – or "gender-affirming care," as they describe it – say it's about "inclusivity" and "allowing someone to be his or her true self." Critics, however, point out that many young people with gender dysphoria often outgrow it.
Meanwhile, some Americans who pursued treatments end up regretful. One of those is Chloe Cole, who took medications and had surgeries as a minor and now warns minors against such things.
"The stats in this database represent thousands of kids who are being treated like guinea pigs for unproven, and sometimes dangerous, medical experiments," says Cole, who is now a senior fellow and patient advocate for Do No Harm.
"I hope politicians and parents alike use this database to see where these treatments are happening and protect their children from being rushed into irreversible, life-altering treatments," Cole adds.
Parents being lied to
A recent report from Do No Harm found U.S. hospitals earned $120 million in five years for doing sex-change treatments – and that nearly 14,000 children under the age of 18 were subject to puberty blockers and surgeries.
Dr. Michelle Cretella of Advocates Protecting Children contends parents are falsely being told their children will commit suicide without these treatments. "The chemical castration, the chemical sterilization, as well as surgical mutilation do not – do not decrease risk of suicide, do not resolve gender dysphoria," she emphasizes.
Cretella surmises that the report of 14,000 children may be a serious underestimation. "… Because there is no way for physicians and scientists to know how many families of youth under 18 are paying privately for these drugs and for these surgeries," she explains.
According to a Washington Examiner report on the Do No Harm database, universities in even some "red" states are complicit in the permanent damage that puberty blockers and gender-mutilation surgeries inflict on minors who are suffering from gender dysphoria. The article specifically names hospitals in Florida, Arizona, and Indiana.
