Health
UK pediatrician who led review of child ‘transitions’ says US medical groups ‘misleading the public’
Dr. Hilary Cass, author of the Cass Review
From LifeSiteNews
The American Academy of Pediatrics’ support for surgically and chemically mutilating gender-confused children ‘is now demonstrated to be out of date by multiple systematic reviews,’ Dr. Hilary Cass told the New York Times.
The typically left-wing New York Times published an interview on Monday with consultant pediatrician Dr. Hilary Cass on her comprehensive review of so-called “gender medicine” in the United Kingdom, indicating that awareness of the damage due to surgical and chemical “transitioning” continues to spread despite the best efforts of LGBT activists.
Released in April, 366-page Cass Review was commissioned by National Health Service (NHS) England following ongoing scandals about the practices of British “gender clinics” such as the Gender Identity Development Service (GIDS), operated by the Tavistock and Portman NHS Foundation Trust. The four-year project consisted of comprehensive reviews of current research and international standards, as well as extensive interviews with gender-confused children and adults, family members, detransitioners, doctors, and activists.
It found that “gender medicine” is “built on shaky foundations” and that while such interventions require a great deal of caution, “quite the reverse happened in the field of [so-called] gender care for children,” and that “[w]hile a considerable amount of research has been published in this field, systematic evidence reviews demonstrated the poor quality of the published studies, meaning there is not a reliable evidence base upon which to make clinical decisions, or for children and their families to make informed choices.” Her findings led NHS to stop prescribing puberty blockers to children with gender confusion earlier this year.
Speaking to the Times, Cass explained that she was planning her retirement when she was first asked to tackle the project and was initially apprehensive about wading into the controversy.
“The most important concern for me is just how poor the evidence base is in this area,” she said. “Some people have questioned, ‘Did we set a higher bar for this group of young people?’ We absolutely didn’t. The real problem is that the evidence is very weak compared to many other areas of pediatric practice.”
The Times acknowledged that her “findings are in line with several European countries that have limited the treatments [sic] after scientific reviews. But in America, where nearly two dozen states have banned the care outright, medical groups have endorsed the treatments as evidence-based and necessary,” including groups the paper contacted for its latest story. Cass described American medical consensus as “out of date” on the issue.
“When I was president of the Royal College of Pediatrics and Child Health, we did some great work with the A.A.P. [American Academy of Pediatrics],” she elaborated. “They are an organization that I have enormous respect for. But I respectfully disagree with them on holding on to a position that is now demonstrated to be out of date by multiple systematic reviews.”
“It wouldn’t be too much of a problem if people were saying ‘This is clinical consensus and we’re not sure,” she added. “But what some organizations are doing is doubling down on saying the evidence is good. And I think that’s where you’re misleading the public. You need to be honest about the strength of the evidence and say what you’re going to do to improve it.”
A significant body of evidence shows that “affirming” gender confusion carries serious harms, especially when done with impressionable children who lack the mental development, emotional maturity, and life experience to consider the long-term ramifications of the decisions being pushed on them.
Studies find that more than 80% of children experiencing gender dysphoria outgrow it on their own by late adolescence, and that even full “reassignment” surgery often fails to resolve gender-confused individuals’ heightened tendency to engage in self-harm and suicide — and may even exacerbate it, including by reinforcing their confusion and neglecting the actual root causes of their mental strife.
Yet while mounting evidence against youth “gender transitions” is prompting European nations such as the United Kingdom and France, which are normally to the left of America, to move away from the practice, in America, the medical establishment and the Biden administration continues to dig in their heels, despite Biden’s own Substance Abuse & Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) releasing a since-deleted report last year acknowledging that “lesbian, gay, and bisexual adults are more likely than straight adults to use substances, experience mental health conditions including major depressive episodes, and experience serious thoughts of suicide.”
The White House’s comprehensive pursuit of the transgender agenda has included reopening the military to recruits afflicted with gender dysphoria, promoting gender ideology within the military (including “diversity” and drag events on military bases), holding White House events to “affirm transgender kids,” condemning state laws against underage “transitions” as “close to sinful,” promoting underage “transitions” (potentially at taxpayer expense) as a “best practice,” and trying to force federally funded schools to let males into female athletic competitions and restrooms.
Health
Saskatchewan woman approved for euthanasia urged to seek medical help in Canada rather than US
From LifeSiteNews
Saskatchewan Premier Scott Moe encouraged Jolene Van Alstine, who has a rare disease, to work with his government on a solution.
Saskatchewan Premier Scott Moe is urging a woman with a rare disease, who has been approved to die by euthanasia because she can’t get proper care, to instead work with his government on a solution.
As reported by LifeSiteNews last week, Saskatchewan resident Jolene Van Alstine was approved to die by state-sanctioned euthanasia because she has had to endure long wait times for what she considers to be proper care for a rare parathyroid disease.
Van Alstine’s condition, normocalcemic primary hyperparathyroidism (nPHPT), causes her to experience vomiting, nausea, and bone pain.
As a result of Van Alstine’s frustrations with the healthcare system, she applied for Canada’s Medical Assistance in Dying (MAiD) and was approved for a January 7, 2026, death date.
Her case drew the attention of American media personality Glenn Beck, who has been in contact with Van Alstine to determine whether she can get the surgery done in the United States. Even the administration of U.S. President Donald Trump has been briefed on the matter.
According to Moe, Van Alstine has taken her case to Saskatchewan Health Minister Jeremy Cockrill, asking for help.
“There has been an opportunity to see specialists in Saskatchewan and outside of Saskatchewan, and those conversations about maybe potentially seeing additional specialists continue with the minister’s office and the Ministry of Health,” Moe said yesterday at a press conference.
“I would hope that she’d continue to work with the Ministry of Health, because I think there’s work going on to see even additional specialists at this point,”
A recent Euthanasia Prevention Coalition report revealed that Canada has euthanized 90,000 people since 2016, the year it was legalized.
Even some lobby groups have pushed for MAiD to be expanded to minors.
As reported by LifeSiteNews, over 23,000 Canadians have died while on wait lists for medical care as Prime Minister Mark Carney’s Liberal government focuses on euthanasia expansions.
Health
Canadian gov’t considers sharing census data on gender-confused children
From LifeSiteNews
Statistics Canada recently consulted LGBTQ+ groups on releasing 2021 census data about gender-confused children ages 0-14, citing research that toddlers could be ‘transgender.’
Statistics Canada is seeking to collect and share data on gender-confused children in its latest move to promote the LGBT agenda to minors.
From November to mid-December, Statistics Canada held consultations with various LGBT groups to discuss how to release 2021 census data on gender-confused children ages 0-14, according to a report shared with the National Post.
“For the upcoming 2026 Census, Statistics Canada has been consulting with the Canadian population, experts and stakeholders on gender,” the government agency wrote in a recent report.
“The Agency has finished conducting extensive qualitative and quantitative testing, notably to assess the impact of modifying the gender response categories to include ‘man’ and ‘woman,’ and ‘boy’ and ‘girl’ for those younger than 15 years,” it continued.
In 2021, StatsCan conducted the first-ever census to collect data on sex assigned at birth as well as how Canadians later ‘identified’ as their gender. The census collected data from Canadians of all ages but only published that of Canadians 15 years and older.
According to the information, released April 2022, 0.33% of the Canadian population age 15 or older were gender-confused, with 0.19% believing they are transgender and 0.14% believing they are non-binary.
The report noted that “younger generations may be more comfortable reporting their gender identity than older generations.”
Now, StatsCan is seeking to further push the LGBT agenda on young children by releasing data to support their argument that young children can be “transgender.”
According to a copy of its most recent report, “children and youth are often assumed to be cisgender (people whose reported gender corresponds to their birth sex) from birth until they ‘come out’ as a different gender on their own accord.”
“Researchers suggest that children aged 18 to 24 months are developmentally capable of recognizing gender norms and expressing gendered behaviours in visible ways,” it continued.
“Research also suggests that, like cisgender children, transgender and non-binary children may recognize their own gender identity as early as 2 to 3 years old or during later childhood or early adolescents,” the document read.
The StatsCan report conveniently ignores scientific data on the harms of gender-transitioning interventions, both on the physical and mental health of individuals, particularly children.
A significant body of evidence shows that “affirming” gender confusion carries serious harms, especially when done with impressionable children who lack the mental development, emotional maturity, and life experience to consider the long-term ramifications of the decisions being pushed on them, or full knowledge about the long-term effects of life-altering, physically transformative, and often irreversible surgical and chemical procedures.
Studies find that more than 80 percent of children suffering gender dysphoria outgrow it on their own by late adolescence and that “transition” procedures, including “reassignment” surgery, fail to resolve gender-confused individuals’ heightened tendency to engage in self-harm and suicide – and even exacerbate it, including by reinforcing their confusion and neglecting the actual root causes of their mental strife.
As LifeSiteNews has previously noted, research does not support the assertions from transgender activists that surgical or pharmaceutical intervention to “affirm” confusion is “necessary medical care” or that it is helpful in preventing the suicides of gender-confused individuals.
In fact, in addition to asserting a false reality that one’s sex can be changed, transgender surgeries and drugs have been linked to permanent physical and psychological damage, including cardiovascular diseases, loss of bone density, cancer, strokes and blood clots, infertility, and suicidality.
There is also overwhelming evidence that those who undergo “gender transitioning” are more likely to commit suicide than those who are not given irreversible surgery. A Swedish study found that those who underwent “gender reassignment” surgery ended up with a 19.2 times greater risk of suicide.
Indeed, there is proof that the most loving and helpful approach to people who think they are a different sex is not to validate them in their confusion but to show them the truth.
A new study on the side effects of transgender “sex change” surgeries discovered that 81 percent of those who had undergone “sex change” surgeries in the past five years reported experiencing pain simply from normal movement in the weeks and months that followed — and that many other side effects manifest as well.
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