HHS taxpayer-funded transgender surgery policies draw scrutiny

The Health and Human Services Department is facing searching new scrutiny regarding federal involvement in transgender policies toward children, the latest federal agency to face Congressional questions over how taxpayer dollars may be pushing the issue and even funding surgeries.

Rep. Nancy Mace (R-S.C.), ranking member on the Subcommittee on Civil Rights and Civil Liberties, sent a letter to HHS Secretary Xavier Becerra raising concerns about the department's work to "promote life altering changes to young children.”

"I write to conduct oversight of the federal government's use of taxpayer funds to promote radical gender ideology and the medical transition of children using pharmaceutical or surgical interventions," Mace wrote. "The Biden Administration appears to be encouraging any child, who does not conform to perceptions of masculine or feminine stereotypes, to alter his or her body through potentially irreversible medical or surgical intervention. Instead of funding these life-altering drugs and procedures, our government should be promoting policies to protect vulnerable children — who cannot consent."

HHS is the latest, but not the only, federal agency to come under scrutiny for its transgender policies toward children. As The Center Square previously reported, the  State Department's Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Accessibility Strategic Plan also came under Congressional scrutiny for including taxpayer-funded "gender transition care" for employees as well as their children.

Mace said that other Western nations have raised concerns about the transgender drugs and surgeries, but that the Biden administration has gone all in.

The letter explicitly requests information on the extent to which taxpayer dollars are being used to fund these drugs and surgeries.

"HHS, under the guise of 'gender affirming care,' now promotes medical interventions such as drugs designed to block puberty, opposite-sex hormones to transition children — both of which do not have FDA approval for use in children's gender care — and even surgical interventions to remove or alter the gender specific anatomy," the letter said.

"HHS also falsely promotes some of these interventions as 'reversible' or 'partially reversible' despite potential, serious long-term physical and mental health risks, complications, and regret," the letter continued. "In fact, there is growing evidence that children who took puberty blockers or endured gender surgery soon regret it. The American medical institutions simply do not have enough data to understand outcomes. Children who suffer from mental health conditions are least likely to engage in sound decision making which is where parental control should intervene."

Declaring it is "imperative that the American people understand HHS's role and the use of federal taxpayer money to promote a radical gender ideology that is harming children in our country," Mace requests that the department turn over to the committe by Nov. 8 an extensive range of documents and communications relating to federal involvement in gender-related medicine interventions, funding, research, and promotion.

HHS did not respond to a request for comment.