Sen. Rand Paul pressed President Biden’s assistant secretary of health nominee Rachel Levine, who is transgender, on the issue of genital mutilation during Levine’s confirmation hearing.
“Genital mutilation has been nearly universally condemned. Genital mutilation has been condemned by the WHO, the United Nations children’s fund, and the United Nations population fund. According to the WHO, it is recognized internationally as a violation of human rights. Genital mutilation is considered particularly egregious because as the WHO notes, it is nearly always carried out on minors and is a violation of the rights of children,” Paul said during the hearing. “It is typically not performed by force, but as WHO notes, by social convention, social norm, the social pressure to conform and do what others do and have been doing, as well as to be accepted socially, and the fear of being rejected by the community.”
“American culture is now normalizing the idea that minors can be given hormones to prevent their biological development of their secondary sexual characteristics,” Paul continued. “Dr. Levine, you have supported both allowing minors to be given hormone blockers to prevent them from going through puberty, as well as surgical destruction of a minor’s genitalia.”
Paul went on to argue that many children with gender dysphoria eventually have the condition resolve on its own, asking Levine if adults should interrupt that process in minors.
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“Like surgical mutilation, hormonal interruption of puberty can permanently alter and prevent secondary sexual characteristics,” Paul said. “The American College of Pediatricians reports that 80% to 95% of pre-puberty children with gender dysphoria will experience resolution by late adolescence if not exposed to medical intervention and social affirmation. Dr. Levine, do you believe minors are capable of making such a life-changing decision of changing one’s sex?”
.@RandPaul: “Do you support the government intervening to override the parents’ consent to give a child puberty blockers, cross-sex hormones, and/or amputation surgery of breasts and genitalia…?@SecretaryLevine: “Transgender medicine is a very complex and nuanced field.” pic.twitter.com/ylKokhTMwo
— Washington Examiner (@dcexaminer) February 25, 2021
Levine, a transgender woman who rose to prominence as Pennsylvania’s top health official during the coronavirus pandemic, sidestepped Paul’s main question.
“Thank you for your interest in this question,” Levine responded. “Transgender medicine is a very complex and nuanced field with robust research and standards of care that have been developed. If I’m fortunate enough to be confirmed as the assistant secretary of health, I will look forward to working with you and your office and coming to your office to discuss the particulars of the standards of care for transgender medicine.”
Not happy with Levine’s answer, Paul continued to press the nominee on the harm such interventions can cause to minors.
“The specific question was about minors, let’s be a little more specific since you evaded the question,” Paul shot back. “Do you support the government intervening to override the parents’ consent to give a child puberty blockers, cross-sex hormones, and or amputation surgery of breasts and genitalia. You have said that you’re willing to accelerate the protocols for street kids. I’m alarmed that poor kids with no parents who are homeless and distraught, you would just go through this and allow that to happen to a minor.”
Paul then recounted the story of a 14-year-old girl who received sex-altering treatment but regretted that decision as an adult, pressing Levine to answer if she supports such interventions for gender dysphoria.
“What I am alarmed at is that you’re not willing to say absolutely minors shouldn’t be making the decision to amputate their breasts or to amputate their genitalia. For most of our history, we have believed that minors don’t have full rights and parents need to be involved. So I am alarmed that you won’t say with certainty that minors should not have the ability to make the decision to take hormones that will affect them for the rest of their life. Will you make a more firm decision on whether minors should be involved in these decisions?”
Levine again sidestepped the question, opting for an answer that was almost a word-for-word repeat of her previous response.
“Transgender medicine is a very complex and nuanced field, and if confirmed to the position of assistant secretary of health, I would certainly be pleased to come to your office and talk with you and your staff about the standards of care and the complexity of this field.”
“Let it go into the record that the witness refused to answer the question,” Paul said. “The question is a very specific one. ‘Should minors be making these momentous decisions?’ For most of the history of medicine, we wouldn’t let you have a cut sewn up in the ER. But you’re willing to let a minor take things that prevent their puberty, and you think they get that back? You give a woman testosterone enough that she grows a beard, you think she’s going to go back to looking like a woman when you stop the testosterone? You have permanently changed them.”
Paul then pointed out that many of the drugs being used to treat gender dysphoria are not approved for that treatment.
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“Fertility is another problem,” Paul said. “None of these drugs have been approved for this. They’re all being used off label. I find it ironic that the Left that went nuts over hydroxychloroquine being used possibly for COVID are not alarmed that these hormones are being used off label. There’s no longterm studies, we don’t know what happens to them. We do know that there are dozens and dozens of people who have been through this who regret that this happened. A permanent change happened to them.”
“If you’ve ever been around children, 14-year-olds can’t make this decision,” Paul concluded. “In the gender dysphoria clinic in England, 10% of the kids were between the age of 3 and 10. We should be outraged that someone is talking to a 3-year-old about changing their sex.”
