“‘Gender affirming care’ is anything but ‘affirming’ and ‘caring.’ It is adults deciding to permanently alter the bodies of children who do NOT have the capacity to make life altering decisions on their own.”
WASHINGTON — On Thursday, U.S. Congressman Mike Johnson (LA-04), Chairman of the House Judiciary Subcommittee on the Constitution and Limited Government, led a hearing on “The Dangers and Due Process Violations of ‘Gender-Affirming Care’ for Children.” The hearing examined motivations for the rapid increase in the use of these treatments on children and highlighted the ongoing, barbaric mutilation of children under the guise of “care.”
The hearing featured testimony from Paula Scanlon, former University of Pennsylvania swimmer, Chloe Cole, a detransitioner and advocate, Jennifer Bauwens Ph.D., Director at the Center for Family Studies, and May Mailman, senior legal fellow at the Independent Women’s Forum.
Excerpts from Congressman Johnson’s Opening Statement:
“Sex isn’t something you are assigned at birth. It is a prenatal development that occurs when every unborn child is in its mother’s womb. You can’t surgically free yourself, or someone else, from this fact of life.
“However, we see adults inflicting harm on helpless children to affirm their world view: that is, that gender is fluid, sex can be surgically altered, and that there are no lasting consequences as a result of these gender transition procedures.
“The reach of radical sexual identity politics isn’t limited to young children. We see this extended to young adults—especially at the university level… Today, nearly one in four high school students identifies as LGBTQ. Whether it’s by scalpel or by social coercion from teachers, professors, administrators, and left-wing media, it’s an attempt to transition the young people of our country.
“Something has gone terribly wrong and today we hope to shed light on what that is and how we can address the problem. Contrary to what the Democrats believe, the scourge of radical gender ideology is very real, efforts to cover up what’s being done to children are extreme, and the science is on our side.”
Excerpts from Congressman Johnson’s Questioning of Chloe Cole:
Rep. Johnson: “Were you or your parents informed of the long term effects of the procedures and hormones that you were subjected to?”
Ms. Cole: “We had consent forms, there was a list of some of the side effects. And we did do consultations where we did speak about some of them. But it was in very vague terms…. And most of the side effects that I experience, most of the ones that I’m experiencing today actually were not even listed on this form, so I had no idea. And children just don’t know what permanence is because they’ve only been in the world for so many years. It’s an important legal principle that we have informed consent, fully informed consent for life altering medical procedures in it.”
Rep. Johnson: “Are you then suggesting that it was not really full informed consent?”
Ms. Cole: “I mean, no matter how much information they would have given me as a child, I just would not have been able to consent to this. And my parents were required to sign off on these, but it was under duress. I don’t think it was really consent. It was coercion. They were told they were going to face the false dichotomy of either your child transitions or she dies. But transition almost killed me. And the evidence suggests that is a common practice.”
Excerpts from Congressman Johnson’s Questioning of Dr. Jennifer Bauwens:
Rep. Johnson: “Is (gender dysphoria) increasing among our children?”
Dr. Bauwens: “Yes. The diagnosis has increased, I believe, even from 2021 to current, there was a 40% increase.”
Rep. Johnson: “The evidence seems to show that there is sort of a rush to force gender transition or sex change procedures on children. Are we imagining that, or do you think that’s actually happening?”
Dr. Bauwens: “No, I don’t think we’re imagining that. I wish that some of the experiences that we’ve heard reported today were accurate for the population at whole. But that’s not what we’re seeing. I mean, you could go on Planned Parenthood’s website and see that if you want testosterone or estrogen prescription, you can go there and get it in an hour. You know, you don’t have to go through a rigorous assessment.”
To watch the Congressman’s full opening statement, click here.
To watch the Congressman’s 1st round of questioning, click here.
To watch the Congressman’s 2nd round of questioning, click here.
Congressman Johnson is the Vice Chairman of the House Republican Conference, a member of the House Judiciary and Armed Services Committees, and a former constitutional law litigator.