American kids are in the grip of a gender contagion By Mary Harrington
https://nypost.com/2022/12/20/american-kids-are-in-the-grip-of-a-gender-contagion/
American kids are in the grip of a gender contagion. New research from the Ethics and Public Policy Center reveals that the number of prescriptions for puberty blockers to under-18s doubled between 2017 and 2021.
The data, based on information gathered from insurers, provide the clearest picture to date of the booming industry of gender butchery being practiced on American minors.
In this medical Wild West, a well-oiled campaigning machine with tentacles into nonprofits, schools and even the White House recruits healthy kids and spits out sterilized simulacra of the opposite sex, often with lifelong health issues.
Concerned parents, meanwhile, are bullied into compliance with threats of suicide — and the “treatments” themselves don’t even make their victims happier. A recent study by the UK campaign group Sex Matters found puberty blockers and hormone treatments do no more to improve teens’ mental health than a placebo.
And yet, as the EPPC numbers show, demand continues to soar. Why? The driver seems to be a toxic blend of teen angst, educator activism and Internet addiction.
Puberty is often tough, and most teens are now exposed to hardcore porn at a young age via smartphones. Many add this corrupted picture of sexual relations to mental health and body issues — then seize on “LGBTQ+” activism in schools and the wider culture as a refuge.
Digging deep for a rainbow “identity” of their own, many more stumble upon forums and YouTube influencers that inspire with “before” and “after” images and tales of how transition will take all the angst and pain away.
It’s no coincidence that in the decade since smartphones became widespread, the number of kids identifying as trans has rocketed. And over the same period the gender breakdown has reversed, from mostly boys to overwhelmingly girls, a group historically prone to body issues and social contagions.
But the scandal isn’t miserable Internet-poisoned teens, worrying though that is. It’s the adults flocking to cash in on their confusion and pain.
Speaking as a Brit, what I admire about the American insurance-based system is the freedom it grants both patients and innovators to push the envelope with new treatments. But the downside of that freedom is that it also leaves plenty of room for quacks and shysters.
And nowhere will you find more of these than in the booming field of gender “medicine,” where the pickings are rich and regulation disturbingly light. According to Global Market Insights, the market in trans medicine is predicted to be worth $1.5 billion worldwide by 2026. Gender surgery alone can cost $30,000.
And when hormone treatment costs upward of $1,500 a year, for life, you’d be crazy not to catch them young. No wonder providers are suddenly everywhere: The first American pediatric gender clinic opened in 2007, and there are now more than 50.
And there’s more. Per a recent report from the American Principles Project, Big Pharma firms such as AbbVie, which makes puberty blockers, dig deep to ensure nothing gets in the way of this lucrative market, by donating to lawmakers and nonprofits — many of which go on to campaign for measures that further entrench gender medicine.
What happens to the kids lured into the maw of this monster? Before their brains are even fully developed, they’re taking drugs that will permanently change them — whether they regret it or not. Lupron, the cancer drug used off-label to “block” normal puberty, has side effects including brittle bones, cognitive impairment and even blindness.
Consider the hypocrisy of President Biden’s principal in-house gender cheerleader, Assistant Secretary for Health Rachel Levine, who is transgender.
“If I had transitioned when I was young then I wouldn’t have my children. I can’t imagine a life without my children,” Levine said in a recent interview.
Yet the assistant health secretary is an advocate for “gender affirming” care, which too often allows a child to decide what to do when still too young to vote, drink or buy a gun. They won’t have the choice to reproduce if they transition then.
And if you think parents are still trusted to veto bad decisions on their kids’ behalf, think again: New policies encourage teachers and social workers to “help” the child while keeping their mom and dad out of the loop.
Some of these kids later regret their mutilation. California teen Chloe Cole, now 18, underwent a double mastectomy at 15 after falling into a trans identity in early adolescence via online groups. She is now suing Kaiser Permanente, the medical group that performed these surgeries, for gross negligence.
Let’s hope she succeeds. For if the freedom baked into American health care is now running wild in the predatory gender-industrial complex, perhaps another great American institution will take it down: lawfare. Surely nothing can stop the white-coated vultures feasting on American teen unhappiness, save the fear of eye-watering compensation payouts. Let the court cases begin.
Mary Harrington is a contributing editor at UnHerd and author of the forthcoming “Feminism Against Progress.”
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