ICYMI: Chairman Cassidy Leads HELP Committee Hearing on Protecting Children from Irreversible Gender Transition Procedures

WASHINGTON - U.S. Senator Bill Cassidy, M.D. (R-LA), Chairman of the U.S. Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions (HELP) Committee, led a hearing on how Congress can protect children from irreversible gender transition procedures.

"Americans and their health care providers deserve to know that medical guidelines, especially for children, reflect the best scientific evidence and are not influenced by extreme ideology," said Dr. Cassidy. "We should not confuse advisory boards being overtaken by activists as if that is necessarily sound scientific evidence. We should be treating each child with the specialized care they need, not encouraging a nine-year-old boy to become a girl."

"It's our jobs as parents, as doctors, as teachers to protect children from harm," continued Dr. Cassidy.

The witnesses echoed Cassidy's call to protect children from the physiological and psychological harm caused by irreversible gender transition procedures.

Chloe Cole recalled her psychologist telling her parents that if she did not medically transition, she would likely commit suicide.

"My mom and dad, who never once believed that I was a boy, were told by psychologists and physicians that insignificant things like me wanting to become an athlete or having short hair meant that I actually was their son," said Ms. Cole. "The central thesis that attempts to justify child transitioning is transition your daughter or bury her. That's the lie my parents were told. And every parent of a trans identified child I know was told the same thing."

"There is no such thing as a child being born in the wrong body, but there are physicians and medical bodies who prey on the confusion of perfectly healthy young boys and girls," continued Ms. Cole.

Dr. Kurt Miceli, the Chief Medical Officer at Do No Harm, spoke on the importance of keeping identity politics out of medicine, warning against cross-sex hormones and irreversible sex change operations for children.

"The known or expected harms include infertility, sexual dysfunction, bone density problems, cardiovascular disease, and markedly elevated mortality," said Dr. Miceli. "Tragically many of these youth will experience lifelong regret, given irreversible effects of these interventions."

As the first physician to chair the HELP Committee, Dr. Cassidy is leading efforts to stop the gender mutilation of children and hold medical groups accountable. Recently, Cassidy launched an investigation into alarming reports of federally funded health entities performing irreversible gender mutilation on children and vulnerable individuals.

The witnesses included:

• Dr. Kurt Miceli, MD, MBA, Chief Medical Officer, Do No Harm
• Chloe Cole, De-transitioner and Advocate
• Shannon Minter, Esq., Legal Director, National Center for LGBTQ Rights

Cassidy's opening remarks as prepared for delivery can be found below:

The Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions will please come to order.

As parents, children are often the greatest source of joy and the greatest source of worry. Their happiness and their safety are the top priority. We want to protect them and also to let them grow and flourish into successful, independent adults.

Many parents have particular concern about transgender ideology taking over our children's schools, social media feeds, and monopolizing pediatric medical focus.

Gender ideology is being pushed to convince children and parents that cross-sex hormones, and irreversible sex change operations are acceptable solutions to gender dysphoria.

More children than ever before are confused about their gender. From 2017 to 2025, the number of children identifying as transgender increased by about 383 percent.

By the way, this seems to be more of an issue for children than adults. Nearly 25 percent of all transgender Americans are children. Given that the number of individuals identifying as transgender decreases as age increases, this suggests that oftentimes children grow out of their gender confusion. With rare medical exception, a child should not have this ideology forced upon them by an over eager institution which often makes a significant amount of money from doing these procedures.

These drugs and procedures leave children with long-lasting, life-altering, irreversible psychological and physiological damage.

Medical organizations that claim to care for children, namely the American Association of Pediatrics and the Endocrine Society, alongside fringe, discredited, activist organizations, like the World Professional Association for Transgender Health, continue to advocate for irreversible gender transition procedures for children despite mounting evidence that these procedures are harmful. They defy science, the medical community, and executive orders that direct federal agencies to ensure children are not subjected to chemical and surgical castration.

After years of HELP investigations and public pressure, medical organizations like the American Society of Plastic Surgeons and the American Medical Association have begun to change course. [POSTER] The ASPS changed their position statement to recommend, "surgeons delay gender-related breast/chest, genital, and facial surgery until a patient is at least 19 years old." In agreement, the AMA told the NY Times "The evidence for gender-affirming surgical intervention in minors is insufficient for us to make a definitive statement. In the absence of clear evidence, the AMA agrees with ASPS that surgical interventions in minors should be generally deferred to adulthood."

That should be obvious at the very least!

Americans and their health care providers deserve to know that medical guidelines, especially for children, reflect the best scientific evidence available and are not influenced by extreme ideology.

The stories I hear are heartbreaking.

In a Supreme Court amicus brief, Layla Jane shared her experience of medical professionals confusing children about their gender identity. Layla Jane suffered from an array of complex mental health symptoms and was exposed to online transgender influencers who falsely led her to believe she was transgender at just 11 years old. Her parents sought guidance from various doctors, who immediately promoted gender transition. In Layla Jane's own words, "I went straight from training bras to binders to a double mastectomy by 13. No doctors ever asked me about my past sexual trauma or why I thought I was transgender." After being prescribed and taking puberty blockers and testosterone, Layla Jane's breasts were surgically removed after a mere 75-minute mental evaluation. Layla Jane de-transitioned when she was 17 years old, but her medical procedures have left her with persistent nerve pain, poor self-image, and fertility complications.

There are lots of stories like Layla Jane's. Our witnesses here today will speak more on this.

Chloe Cole is a de-transitioned 21-year-old woman from California who went through the process of medical transition starting at age 12. Our other witness is Dr. Kurt Miceli, a psychiatrist and Chief Medical Officer at Do No Harm. Thank you both for being here.

If a doctor, teacher, or therapist tells a concerned mom that if they don't agree to transition their child, they will lose them to suicide; what's a parent supposed to do?

First, there is zero evidence that gender transition procedures help improve mental health. The opposite is often true. Second, the reality is that many of the children suffering from gender dysphoria will outgrow their diagnosis within a few years. Allowing minors to permanently change their bodies causes more significant harm to their overall health and wellbeing long term.

We should not confuse advisory boards being overtaken by activists with sound scientific evidence. We should be treating each child with the specialized care they need, not encouraging a nine-year-old boy to become a girl.

It's our jobs as parents, as doctors, and as teachers to protect our children from harm. As Senators, it's our job to stand up for what's right and against what's wrong; to support science and speak out against quackery; and to align public policy with the best interest of children and families. This includes not funding providers or organizations that take generous federal dollars and then promote or perform gender transition services on minors. Let's put politics aside and fulfill our duty to let kids be kids.

With that, I recognize Senator Sanders.

Click here to watch Dr. Cassidy's opening remarks.

Click here to watch the full hearing.

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