On Wednesday, Joe Biden’s nominee to be the Director of the Office of Science & Technology Policy, Dr. Arati Prabhakar, testified before the Senate Commerce Committee.
And she gave some rather terrifying testimony when Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) questioned her regarding the concept of “settled science.” He pointed out that, back in May, Biden’s Assistant Secretary for Health Rachel Levine, claimed “there is no argument” about “gender-affirming care” among pediatricians and doctors who specialize in adolescents. In other words, he claimed that it is settled science.
“Gender-affirming care is a euphemism for all sorts of policies that with young children can involve puberty-blocking drugs that can involve, at extreme levels, surgeries that permanently alter their reproductive capacity, their capacity for the rest of their life,” Cruz pointed out. “Do you think it’s accurate that questions such as that are settled science, and no one is even allowed to ask what are the consequences of an eight-year-old child being given severe drugs that alter their physiology for the rest of their life?”
Prabhakar deflected. “Senator Cruz, I think you’re talking about an area that is quite complex, I think gender … is actually I think, complex in ways that are surprising to many people. And my view on this matter is that fundamental to this topic is respect for the individuals who are involved. And I would keep coming back to that as —”
“But you’re not answering my question,” Cruz interjected. “Do you believe it is settled science and thus, it is unacceptable to ask questions about the impact of a child of administering severe life-altering drugs at very young ages? Do you think that is settled science and nobody is allowed to question it?”
“Senator, that’s an area that’s, again, very complex; it’s not one that I have deep personal familiarity with,” she claimed. “It’s one that I would want to learn a lot more about.”
“Okay, you’re refusing to answer that,” Cruz said, pointing out that it should have been an easy question to answer. And it should have been. All Cruz wanted to know is if it’s right to simply question whether it’s appropriate to give life-altering drugs and cosmetic surgery to children.
“If I go home to Texas, and I get 100 people in a room, I promise you 99 of them will say, ‘well, of course, we don’t ask questions about that,'” he continued. “I find it amazing that you’re nominated to a cabinet-level position as the President’s science advisor, and you’re not even willing to acknowledge that asking questions about the long-term physical and emotional health to a child, asking those questions is okay.”
As Cruz pointed out to Dr. Arati Prabhakar, “politics is more important than science” because “there are obvious science and medical questions” about this.
WATCH: Biden nom to be Director of the Office of Science & Technology Policy refused to answer Sen. Ted Cruz’s questions about whether it’s "unacceptable to ask questions about" the impact of "gender affirming care" on kids.
Cruz: “There are obvious science & medical questions.” pic.twitter.com/ZoRXBe62KD
— Steve Guest (@SteveGuest) July 20, 2022
Cruz noted that “History is replete with all sorts of instances of ‘scientific consensus’ being categorically wrong, and the mantra of ‘settled science’ is often a mask for a political agenda to prevent scientists from asking questions that are inconsistent with a political agenda.”
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