Washington, D.C. — House Energy and Commerce Committee Chair Cathy McMorris Rodgers (R-WA), Subcommittee on Health Chair Brett Guthrie (R-KY), and Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations Chair Morgan Griffith (R-VA) wrote to Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Xavier Becerra asking for a briefing and information on what evidenced-based scientific and pediatric medical literature the department relies upon to promote gender transition procedures for children.

KEY LETTER EXCERPT: 

“Officials at HHS contend that sex reassignment procedures on minors are unanimously accepted medical practice, despite a growing body of research from European medical experts and authorities warning otherwise. According to a recent HHS production in response to a request under the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA), it seems HHS’s position rests entirely on a two-page publicly available brochure advocating for such drastic, life-altering procedures on children. The Committee seeks information to better understand the body of medical information HHS has consulted to establish its policy promoting sex reassignment for children.” 

[...]

“All of HHS’s medical treatment recommendations, especially medical treatment recommendations for children, should be based on rigorous and well-established research that has definitively illustrated the long-term benefits of performing such procedures. Therefore, it is puzzling that HHS actively advocates for off-label use of puberty blockers without justification—such as substantial evidence gathered through a randomized controlled trial. In doing so, HHS is effectively advocating for unregulated medical experimentation on children.” 

BACKGROUND: 

• Under the Biden administration, HHS has advocated for sex reassignment procedures, including the use of serum puberty blockers.   
• These are chemical hormonal suppressants that have a history of predominantly being used to treat U.S. children experiencing precocious puberty (i.e., the early onset of puberty affecting about 1% of U.S. children); they also have been used on sex-offenders and are known to stunt normal childhood development for children unaffected by precocious puberty.   
• Contrary to HHS’s proclamation that “there is no argument among medical professionals,” a substantial number of medical experts from around the world have publicly denounced sex transition procedures on minors as irresponsible, including a July 2023, letter signed by clinicians and researchers published in the Wall Street Journal. 
• On March 12, 2024, the National Health Service (NHS) of England announced it will no longer widely allow puberty blockers to be administered to children.   
• A United Kingdom court noted the obvious about administering puberty blocking chemicals onto children: “[i]t is highly unlikely that a child aged 13 or under would be competent to give consent to the administration of puberty blockers. It is doubtful that a child aged 14 or 15 could understand and weigh the long-term risks and consequences of the administration of puberty blockers.” 
• Several European countries have restricted “sex change surgeries, hormones, and puberty blockers for children.”  
• In Finland, Dr. Riittakerttu Kaltiala, a pediatrician specializing in gender medicine reportedly noted, “using a child’s preferred name and pronouns—is ‘not a neutral act’ but rather one that can solidify what is otherwise likely to be a passing phase into a more permanent state of mind, or ‘identity,’ and put the minor on a path to drugs and surgeries.” 

CLICK HERE to read the full letter.