Colorado GOP Rep. Lauren Boebert fired off a pointed three-page query to the Health and Human Services secretary Thursday regarding his stance on transgender medical care, particularly for children.
The Republican freshman had a terse exchange with Xavier Becerra during an April 6 budget hearing in which she discovered that the federal government supports gender reassignment surgeries for minors.
She was unsuccessful in learning the extent of taxpayer funding for such procedures and promised to follow up with Becerra, who was mostly unresponsive in his answers.
“You, sir, are first and foremost a public servant and the American people deserve to know what their government is spending federal monies on,” Boebert’s letter begins. “Instead of attempting to answer my questions in good faith, you danced around them and refused to directly answer them. This might be cute in some circles, but the American people are not amused.”
HHS SECRETARY DEFENDS TEEN TRANSGENDER SURGERIES IN DUST-UP WITH BOEBERT
Boebert’s letter references a recent HHS document, “Gender affirming care and young people,” which advocates for hormone therapy and surgery. She asked Becerra if he thought the treatment was acceptable.
The congresswoman has been active in opposing transgender healthcare for children in Colorado and using taxpayer dollars to fund treatment.
The Washington Examiner published a four-part series on the topic of teenage transgenderism that included interviews with young women who de-transitioned and now face a lifetime of pain and medical problems related to surgeries and cross-sex hormones.
European countries such as Sweden and Denmark have outlawed transgender treatments for minors because of the health risks. This came after a study, which was released last year and spanned nearly 50 years of research, found 4,600 transgender people who showed a 50% mortality rate.
“It’s a sad day in America when the secretary of Health and Human Services is using his position of influence to promote gruesome gender reassignment surgeries on children,” Boebert said on Fox News last week. “We know that his record is not very good. It’s actually pretty pathetic protecting children and parental rights.”
‘ABSOLUTELY DISGUSTING’: GOP congresswoman slams left’s agenda for kids, wonders ‘what is the world is happening in America?’ https://t.co/QqNyTAhRGH pic.twitter.com/d6YhTRptc3
— Fox News (@FoxNews) April 8, 2022
Boebert also asked Becerra whether parents could lose child custody if they don’t go along with the program of allowing the teenagers to transition. He refused to answer.
“I asked him if parents who don’t agree with this gender affirming care and don’t want to mutilate their children, if they are at risk, in danger of having their children removed from their home,” Boebert told Fox News.
In her letter, Boebert asked Becerra whether this was appropriate, citing the HHS document “Gender affirming care is trauma informed care” in which child removal is given as an option.
Other questions in the letter included whether Becerra believed men could get pregnant, how he determines whether someone is a man or woman, and whether doctors who refuse to treat transgender patients could run afoul of the law.
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“Will you be issuing regulations providing clear and robust protections — as multiple courts have ruled are required — to doctors, nurses, medical professionals, and hospitals whose deeply held religious beliefs prevent them from providing experimental gender transition treatments?” Boebert wrote.
Becerra was given 15 days to answer the letter. He could not be reached for comment on this story.
