Sen. Mike Braun (R-IN) said during an exchange with Secretary of Health and Human Services Xavier Becerra that the effects of sex-change surgeries for children are “almost grotesque to mention.” He is undeniably correct, and it is equally grotesque that Becerra’s office is promoting them as “gender-affirming care.”

Braun asked Becerra during a committee hearing, “In what case would it be appropriate to perform irreversible sex-change surgery on kids?” HHS, under Becerra, lists “gender-affirming surgeries” as something that can be approved for adolescents (an age group that spans from 10-year-olds to 19-year-olds) on a case-by-case basis.