Another domino has fallen in the war against child mutilation as the American Medical Association (AMA) has renounced gender surgeries on children. This is the second major medical group this week that’s taken such a stand. On Tuesday, I reported that the American Society of Plastic Surgeons (ASPS) was the first to come out against sex change surgeries for minors.
More to the point, the AMA said that gender surgeries should wait at least until patients are adults. Prior to this week, the majority of the medical community and its professional associations fought against restrictions on gender surgeries and related care. Their earlier stance was to push for “evidence-based” decisions that center on what they had described as the unique needs of the person, regardless of age.
In other words, the ghouls favored making gender surgery decisions on a case-by-case basis, even with children. In addition to surgery, such decisions may also have considered pharmaceutical puberty blockers and hormone therapies.
In making its announcement, the AMA said that while it continued to support treatment for gender-confused minors, there is not enough research on the risks and benefits of surgical procedures for young patients. This stance is very similar to that of the plastic surgeons, which the AMA acknowledged: “In the absence of clear evidence, the AMA agrees with ASPS that surgical interventions in minors should be generally deferred to adulthood.”
So what happened that has caused so much of this new enlightenment? My colleague Rick Moran covered an interesting legal case and a $2 million award that may have single-handedly destroyed the sex change industry for minors.
“In a landmark court case in Westchester County, New York, a young woman known to the court as ‘Fox Varian’ underwent a ‘top’ surgery when she was 16 years old on the recommendation of her psychologist, Kenneth Einhorn. Like many teens said to be afflicted with gender dysphoria, Varian had a host of psychological problems, including depression, anxiety, and social phobia. She was diagnosed with autism at age 15. She also suffered from ‘disordered eating and body-image issues,’ according to The Free Press,” Rick wrote.
Later, Varian decided to “detransition” back to her original female identity. In 2023, as Rick quoted the Free Press, “she filed a medical malpractice lawsuit against the two principal Westchester County, New York, care providers who oversaw her gender transition: her longtime psychologist, Kenneth Einhorn, and Dr. Simon Chin, who performed the mastectomy.”
Last week, Varian won a $2 million jury award — not an out-of-court settlement — in this landmark case. The court victory for Varian has sent shockwaves throughout the medical industry.
If you’re keeping score, there’s one organization we have not yet heard from in terms of changing its position on the issue, and that’s the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP). In fact, when the New York Times reached out to the AAP for comment, it said its position on gender surgeries for minors hasn’t changed.
The Times reported that, “’The guidance from the American Academy of Pediatrics for health care for young people with gender dysphoria does not include a blanket recommendation for surgery for minors,’ Dr. Andrew Racine, the group’s president, said in a statement.”
“The AAP continues to hold to the principle that patients, their families and their physicians — not politicians — should be the ones to make decisions together about what care is best for them.”
The statement misses the mark in that politicians aren’t the ones who appear to be driving the current epidemic of reversals on the issue. Litigation is the thing. With that in mind, I don't think this is the last we'll hear from the AAP on this issue. Now that the floodgates have been opened, doctors, hospitals, healthcare organizations, psychologists, and others would be wise to meet with their attorneys to assess their current vulnerabilities. Chances are good that this is already happening across the country. Expect even more renouncements of gender surgeries for minors in the days, weeks, and months ahead.
To be sure, as the Times reported, the Trump administration, in December, “proposed new rules that would deny federal funding to hospitals that provided medical treatment for transgender youth.” But clearly, that wasn’t the wake-up call driving the current change of mind we’re seeing.
Nothing gets the attention of the medical field like a $1,000-per-hour trial lawyer. If this past week’s developments are any indication, malpractice litigation over gender surgeries and transitions for minors may be about to explode, as it should.
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