WASHINGTON – U.S. Senator Bill Cassidy, M.D. (R-LA), Chairman of the U.S. Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions (HELP) Committee, launched an investigation into alarming reports of federally funded health entities performing irreversible gender mutilation on children and vulnerable individuals. This comes as the HELP Committee is set to hold a hearing next Thursday, May 21st, on protecting children from dangerous gender transitions.
“Health care providers are supposed to protect children’s health, not subject them to dangerous sex-change procedures driven by ideology,” said Dr. Cassidy. “These entities need to be held accountable to prevent further harm to children.”
In Rhode Island, providers at Thundermist Health Center and Hasbro Children’s Hospital were sued for reportedly performing dangerous gender transition procedures on children and other vulnerable patients, including those with severe mental illness. These health entities receive significant federal support, with 66 percent of Thundermist’s grant and contribution revenue coming from Americans’ tax dollars.
The Trump administration has sought to prevent entities from performing irreversible gender transitions. HHS previously referred multiple federally funded health centers for criminal investigation for their continued irreversible gender mutilation of children
At a HELP Committee hearing last month, Cassidy asked the U.S. Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. about these reports and urged him to take further action to protect children and hold these entities accountable.
Background
As Chairman of the HELP Committee, Cassidy is leading efforts to investigate medical organizations promoting dangerous gender transition procedures for children against scientific evidence. Cassidy joined HHS Secretary Kennedy at an event announcing a new policy preventing tax dollars from funding these dangerous procedures for children. He also introduced the No Subsidies for Gender Transition Procedures Act to prohibit taxpayer funded gender transition procedures under Medicaid, Medicare, the Children’s Health Insurance Program, and the Affordable Care Act.
Read the letter to Thundermist Health Center here.
Read the letter to Hasbro Children’s Hospital here.
Read the letter to HRSA here.
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