Congress members spar over hormone treatments for children

A House Judiciary subcommittee held a hearing Thursday on the dangers of giving minors hormone treatments, puberty blockers, sex change operations, and other transgender interventions. The committee heard testimony from researchers, advocates, and survivors of child access to the treatments. One witness discussed the permanent physical and biological effects of her taking testosterone at a young age.

What’s the overall opinion of the committee? The bipartisan panel remains split. Subcommittee Chairman Mike Johnson, R-La., described the procedures as “mutilation of children” and voiced his disgust at parents being called “transphobic” for protecting their children from the interventions. Ranking subcommittee member Mary Gay Scanlon, D-Pa., described opposition to gender treatment as a “dangerous political attack on transgender children in their families.”

Dig deeper: Read Mary Jackson and Grace Snell’s report on a California bill to strip custody from parents who won’t allow transgender interventions for their children.