(C) Ohio Capital Journal
This unaltered story was originally published by Ohio Capital Journal
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Fact checking claims about gender-affirming care [1]
['Morgan Trau', 'More From Author', '- May']
Date: 2022-05-24 00:00:00
The following article was originally published on News5Cleveland.com and is published in the Ohio Capital Journal under a content-sharing agreement. Unlike other OCJ articles, it is not available for free republication by other news outlets as it is owned by WEWS in Cleveland.
A controversial bill in the Ohio House would prohibit LGBTQ+ youth from receiving most gender-affirming health care, but there is a lot of misinformation surrounding the bill.
The Save Adolescents from Experimentation (SAFE) Act has had two hearings so far and will be having another Thursday. The previous hearing, which occurred on May 19, was just for bill supporters.
Republican state Reps. Gary Click, from Vickery, and Diane Grendell, from Chesterland, sponsored House Bill 454, which would promote no major care instead of allowing minors to receive the health care they, their parents and their health care professionals think is best.
The SAFE Act would prohibit gender-affirming care for trans and non-binary youth, including hormone blockers, hormone replacement therapy (HRT), surgical procedures and potentially mental health services.
It would require counselors and educators to disclose to parents if their child is questioning their gender.
Health care professionals who provide this care could lose their license and be sued.
Public funding would be taken away from institutions that provide care for transgender young people. Insurance providers and Medicaid would not cover gender-affirming procedures for minors.
Cam Ogden, like many other young LGBTQ+ kids and teens have, said she has gone through trauma with not feeling safe in her identity. She watched bill supporters share how they believe the care that helped save her life causes more harm than good.
“The people speaking do not actually have experience treating transgender children or working in the clinics that they so vehemently oppose the existence of,” she said.
Aaron Baer with the Center for Christian Virtue has been helping spearhead this legislation. Instead of providing this care, families should be waiting until the minor is a legal adult, so the individual can actually know what they want, he said.
“We don’t want to lock a kid into a situation because of a very difficult mental health situation they’re going through as a child,” he added.
To evaluate the claims that were made by supporters during the bill’s second hearing, News 5 reached out to Dr. Anjali Ferguson.
Ferguson specializes in affirming health care, and working with gender-nonconforming youth. She is a clinical psychologist and founded a website called Parenting Culture, which is a resource where she has inclusive conversations about raising kids, with a special focus on gender identity and tough conversations.
“Kiddos who aren’t matched to their biological sex know their gender identity just as firmly as gender-confirming folks,” the doctor said.
Disregarding a child’s gender identity leads to the high suicide rates of trans youth, she added. But Baer said that statistics are on his side.
“The evidence shows that the suicide rate on either side of these treatments, whether before the treatment or after, is about the same,” Baer said.
That’s “absolutely” inaccurate, the specialist responded.
“About 45% of LGBTQ youth have actually considered attempting suicide,” she said. “When you receive gender-affirming care, it actually reduces that risk by half — so individuals who received gender-affirming care attempt suicide at less than half the rate of those that do not.”
In other research, about 52% of all-trans and nonbinary youth in the country seriously contemplated killing themselves in 2020, according to a study done by The Trevor Project.
Ferguson is not alone in her stance. University Hospitals Rainbow Babies & Children’s Hospital, The Ohio Children’s Hospital Association and the Ohio Psychological Association are among the many that have spoken out against the bill.
“House Bill 454 is a misguided effort that facilitates potential harm to a vulnerable population by denying them access to critical care and support,” UH said in a statement to News 5, referencing their solidarity with Ohio Children’s Hospital Association.
Bill supporters include the Center for Christian Virtue, Catholic Conference of Ohio, the Alliance Defending Freedom and more conservative groups.
“These hospitals that they are supposed to be able to trust are pushing these dangerous drugs on kids,” Baer said.
As well as stating that the procedures are well studied and safe, Ferguson said undergoing gender-affirming care can take many years, and studies show that surgeries typically happen when someone is 18 or older.
[END]
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