Spurred by a report on Twitter, Republican lawmakers are planning to pass legislation in 2023 to ban Vanderbilt University Medical Center from performing pediatric transgender surgeries.
Meanwhile, Gov. Bill Lee called for an investigation, and Attorney General Jonathan Skrmetti’s Office said he will use the “full scope” of his authority to ensure state law is being enforced.
House Speaker Cameron Sexton, R-Crossville, said in a statement that he is reviewing “conflicting reports” on the issue, but noted that “it is inappropriate for any minor to be given any surgery gender reassignment or puberty blockers”.
“Your biological sex at birth is your identity. There will be legislation introduced this session by many members to protect Tennesseans from this barbaric practice,” Sexton said.
Anger erupted among some lawmakers after conservative blogger Matt Walsh posted videos and reports Tuesday showing Vanderbilt officials discussing gender-confirming surgeries.
Walsh, a political commentator, blogger and podcaster for the conservative newspaper Daily Wire, engaged in similar accusations on social media against Boston Children’s Hospital last month. What followed saw threats of violence against staff and doctors, including a bomb threat that forced the evacuation of the hospital.
A statement released by Vanderbilt University Medical Center on Wednesday noted that the well-known teaching hospital is “now the subject of social media posts and a video that misrepresent facts about the care the Medical Center provides to transgender patients.”
“VUMC started its Transgender Health Clinic because transgender individuals are a high-risk population for mental and physical health issues and are consistently underserved by the US health system.”
The statement noted that the hospital provides care to all adolescents “in accordance with state law and in accordance with proactive professional standards and guidelines established by medical specialty societies,” including requiring parental consent to treat minors for related to transgender care.
On Wednesday, the websites for the Vanderbilt Clinic for Transgender Health and related sites related to transgender care were down. The hospital did not respond to follow-up questions about the locations or whether there were security concerns at the hospital.
Walsh tweeted a series of videos on Wednesday that he said were made in 2018 and 2020, including one featuring Vanderbilt physician Dr. Shayne Taylor, calling gender transition surgery a “huge moneymaker.” Some procedures, which are covered by the Affordable Care Act, can bring in as much as $40,000 and others can cost $100,000, Taylor said in the video.
Taylor did not refer to children in the video clip posted by Walsh, which did not appear to contain her full comments.
Another video posted by Walsh involves a Vanderbilt plastic surgeon discussing the guidelines doctors should follow before performing “major operations,” or double mastectomies, on transgender patients. Requirements include a letter documenting ongoing gender dysphoria from a licensed mental health provider and ensuring patients are able to make fully informed decisions for themselves, the doctor said. Patients who are 16 or 17 years old, who have received testosterone and have parental consent may also qualify, the doctor said.
But Walsh inaccurately characterized the remarks to suggest that once children are “drugged and sterilized,” Vanderbilt surgeons “will happily perform double mastectomies on teenage girls.”
Walsh also posted an undated video of Dr. Ellen Clayton, a Vanderbilt professor of law, pediatrics and health policy, noting that “conscientious objections” to gender-confirming surgery is “problematic.”
“You’re doing something to another person and you’re not paying for the cost of your faith,” she said. “I think it’s a real issue,” she said. She noted that Vanderbilt would likely accommodate religious objections, but “it would not be without consequences.”
It is not clear from the edited clip posted whether she was referring to the consequences for patients or for staff.
In its statement, Vanderbilt University Medical Center noted its policies “allow employees to refuse to participate in care they find morally objectionable and do not permit discrimination against employees who choose to do so. This includes employees, beliefs whose personal or religious beliefs do not support gender-based care for transgender people.”
In addition, Walsh singled out Vanderbilt’s Trans Buddies program for providing “trans activists” to accompany patients to appointments.
The program, a VUMC statement noted, has received national recognition for providing peer volunteers to support people who require “very personal care in an unfamiliar environment and who may have been denied medical services in the past. or have avoided their search for fear of meeting with hostility.”
Gov. Randy McNally and Sen. Ferrell Haile, who sponsored legislation in 2021 to limit transgender drug therapy and surgery for prepubescent children, said they expect a bill dealing with transgender medical care to be sponsored in 2023. when the 113th General Assembly convenes.
Haile, a Gallatin Republican, said his two concerns are making sure Vanderbilt Hospital is following state law and then making sure the hospital doesn’t find loopholes.
He noted that a “medical consideration” should be taken into account with any subsequent legislation, but he declined to speak further on the matter.
McNally said Wednesday that he believes “sex reassignment” surgery should be delayed until a person is past puberty, even if parents give consent, because of the long-term impact on the patient.
“I think in many cases, the individual, the child, later in life struggles with what happened and I think it’s better to wait and make sure that’s what they should do, if the parents and the child are thinking of having something like that. done,” said McNally, an Oak Ridge Republican.
Matt Walsh has this story of stalking trans people. He really has a focus and obsession with this.
– Chris Sanders, Tennessee Equality Project
Governor Lee issued a statement saying he wants an investigation of the hospital to make sure it is operating legally.
“The transgender pediatric clinic at Vanderbilt University Medical Center raises serious moral, ethical and legal concerns. We must not allow permanent, life-altering decisions that hurt children or policies that suppress religious freedoms, all for financial gain. We need to protect Tennessee’s children, and this requires a full investigation,” Lee said.
And Skrmetti released his own statement, which said he was “aware of allegations of illegal conduct at the Transgender Health Clinic. General Skrmetti will use the full scope of his authority to ensure compliance with the laws of Tennessee.
Chris Sanders, executive director of the LGBTQ advocacy group Tennessee Equality Project, was critical of the source of the report on Twitter.
“Matt Walsh has this history of stalking trans people. He really has a focus and obsession with this. So what’s caught everyone off guard is this sudden firestorm that has arisen over the gender-affirming care that’s been provided,” Sanders said Wednesday.
Instead of protecting children, Republican lawmakers’ rhetoric Wednesday is putting their safety and well-being at risk, said Jace Wilder, a master’s student and researcher at Vanderbilt University.
“That the attack on Vanderbilt is encouraged by the Lee Administration is shameful,” he said.
“They are using trans kids as political pawns. They say it will protect the children, but it will perpetuate the violence,” Wilder added.
“Instead of using taxpayer money to investigate an internationally recognized and respected health care facility,” Clemmons said, he would support investigations into Governor Lee’s use of no-bid contracts, misappropriation of federal welfare funds, the shortcomings of the Children’s Department. The services, the departures of Lee’s cabinet members and the alleged bribery of state officials during the 2019 House vote on vouchers.
House Republican leaders flooded Twitter with outrage, vowing to dismantle the Vanderbilt program.
Majority Leader William Lamberth said he is “deeply troubled” by the social media report.
“@GovBillLee is right to call for an investigation and we will support that investigation 100%. This type of child mutilation should be illegal and soon will be in TN,” Lamberth said on Twitter.
House Republican Caucus Chairman Jeremy Faison tweeted, “Giving minors hormone replacement therapy is unconscionable, but threatening doctors with ‘consequences’ who have religious objections is against everything this country stands for.” “.
He added that the next session he will lead the “fight” to stop the proceedings.
However, their position contradicts a statement by the American Medical Association.
In a letter to the National Governors Association, Dr. James L. Madara, the association’s CEO and executive vice president, wrote that the group and its member governors oppose state legislation that would prohibit “necessary medical care related to gender transition for minor patients. Because it represents a “dangerous government intervention ” in medical practice and may harm the health of transgender children nationwide.
State lawmakers have already passed legislation restricting gender-confirming hormones to pre-pubescent children. Sanders noted that this type of medication was not being practiced when Haile sponsored his legislation.
A separate bill to ban hormone therapy and gender-affirmation surgery for all minors failed in the Legislature earlier this year.
Rep. of state John Ray Clemmons, a Democrat from Nashville, criticized the political outrage over Vanderbilt hospital practices.
“Instead of using taxpayer money to investigate an internationally recognized and respected health care facility,” Clemmons said, he would support investigations into Governor Lee’s use of no-bid contracts, misappropriation of federal welfare funds, the shortcomings of the Children’s Department. The services, the departures of Lee’s cabinet members and the alleged bribery of state officials during the 2019 House vote on vouchers.
