Our Sad Loss
It is with much sadness that the Board and Executive Director of The Tennessee Center for Bioethics & Culture announce the death of Board Member William “Bill” Peter, of Hendersonville, TN. Bill has served humbly but with distinction as a Board Member since the inception of this organization. He will be sorely missed. We extend our condolences to his family.
Resquiescat in pace,
our brother and friend
D. Joy Riley, M.D., M.A.
Executive Director
Our September e-newsletter contained an article by Joyce Shelton, Ph.D., “For the Safety of Our Children.” It was about the medical transitioning of gender-dysphoric children. Due to our federal government’s inordinate interest in providing such mis-named “medical care” to minors, the Tennessee Center for Bioethics & Culture submitted the following comment on Monday, 3 October. The comment refers to the vast enlargement of the term “Discrimination on the basis of sex” in Section 1557 of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (ACA) to include “termination of pregnancy” as well.
While we wait to hear if the comment will be posted by regulations.gov, we can share it with you, our readers:
RE: Nondiscrimination in Health Programs and Activities
The proposed rule change in Section 1557 of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (ACA) is untenable to civil society. Including “termination of pregnancy” under “discrimination on the basis of sex” could potentially make abortionists of all physicians. This is not only a disregard of centuries of Hippocratic physicians’ good medical practice (not performing abortions), but the enforcement of a procedure that leaves only victims in its wake. Several friends of mine had abortions when they were younger. All were changed by the procedure: one becoming an alcoholic; the remainder, expressing life-long regret. To eradicate embryos or fetuses in the womb is to perform genocide on our youngest citizens. The Nuremburg Trials taught us that following orders (in the current situation, that could be complying with an ill-conceived federal law or hospital/health plan rule) is not a sufficient defense for doing what one knows to be wrong or immoral. Both the right of health care professionals not to provide or refer for abortion, and the right to exclude abortion from health plans are protected by federal law (Church, Coats-Snow, Helms, Hyde, and Weldon amendments). “Termination of pregnancy” should not be included under “discrimination on the basis of sex.” The amendments named above should stand.
Another problem with the proposed rule change is the inclusion of “sexual orientation” and “gender identity” in the definition of “discrimination on the basis of sex.” Such wordplay could bring truly harmful results – as opposed to the medical care desired. This is particularly true for minors seeking “medical transitions.” Forcing physicians and other health care professionals to administer puberty blockers and/or cross-sex hormones, and perform or refer for mutilating surgeries on normal anatomy converts persons into life-long patients, and is a blatant misuse of medical skills. Although some claim that helping those with gender dysphoria to transition by such medical and surgical maneuvers reduces suicide risk, that has not been proven by long-term studies.* The recent closure of the Tavistock Clinic in the UK should be a lesson for the U.S.**
* Dhejne C; Lichtenstein P; Boman M;Johansson AL; Långström N; Landén M; “Long-Term Follow-up of Transsexual Persons Undergoing Sex Reassignment Surgery: Cohort Study in Sweden.” PloS one. U.S. National Library of Medicine, February 22, 2011. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/21364939/.
Hughes LD; King WM; Gamarel KE; Geronimus AT; Panagiotou OA; Hughto JMW; “Differences in All-Cause Mortality among Transgender and Non-Transgender People Enrolled in Private Insurance.” Demography. U.S. National Library of Medicine, June 1, 2022. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/35548863/.
Jay P. Greene, Ph.D. “Puberty Blockers, Cross-Sex Hormones, and Youth Suicide.” The Heritage Foundation, June 13, 2022. https://www.heritage.org/gender/report/puberty-blockers-cross-sex-hormones-and-youth-suicide.
**Cass, Hilary. “Interim Report.” Cass Review, February 2022. https://cass.independent-review.uk/publications/interim-report/.
Click below for the trailer of the new documentary, The Detransition Diaries. This documentary “explores the stories of three young women who thought transitioning to male would solve their gender dysphoria.”
(The CBC Network, Press release, 19 September 2022)
