U.S. Secretary of Health and Human Services Robert F. Kennedy Jr. — a man with absolutely no medical background of any sort, who thinks that Tylenol and vaccines cause autism and who has said a worm ate part of his brain — today (Thursday, Dec. 18) moved to cut access to gender-affirming care for transgender children, proposing rules barring hospitals from providing such care through Medicare and Medicaid programs and prohibiting Medicaid and children’s health programs from paying for it, according to reporting from numerous sources.
Kennedy declared that medical professionals providing what he erroneously calls “sex-rejecting procedures” to children are “out of compliance with these standards of healthcare.” His uniformed opinion, however, contradicts the findings and positions of all of the country’s leading medical organizations (you know, people who actually have medical backgrounds and education and training), including the American Academy of Pediatrics and the American Medical Association, both of which support insurance coverage for gender-affirming care and say decisions should be made by children, parents and doctors, Reuters reports.
JFK Jr.’s announcement comes a day after the U.S. House of Representatives passed a measure, pushed by right-wing extremist Georgia Republican and (soon-to-be-former U.S. Representative) Marjorie Taylor Greene, that would criminalize gender-affirming health care for minors.
All this proves, once again, that Transgender Derangement Syndrome runs strong in the Trump administration and MAGA extremists around the country.
— Tammye Nash