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International

German parliament passes law allowing minors to change their legal gender once a year

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6 minute read

Olaf Scholz

From LifeSiteNews

By Andreas Wailzer

“An exception to the unrestricted change of gender entry applies to men if the request for change is obviously in connection with an impending conscription in case of national defense,” the NZZ article states. “In such a case, the gender entry cannot be changed. Men must then remain men.”

The German parliament has passed the so-called “self-identification law,” which allows people confused about their sex, including minors, to change their legal gender once per year.

vote in the Bundestag (German federal parliament) on April 12 saw the law passed as 374 MPs voted in favor, 251 voted against, and eleven MPs abstained.

The new legislation, proposed by Germany’s left-wing government coalition, will allow anyone to change his or her legal gender entry once per year by simply stating their desire to do so to the registry office. Parents can decide to change the legal gender of their children under the age of 14 with their offspring’s “consent.”

Minors between the ages of 14 and 18 can apply to change their gender entry themselves but will need their parents’ consent. However, in the case of a disagreement between parents and their children, a family court can make a decision based on the “best interests of the child.”

Leaked communications of top pro-LGBT doctors have shown that so-called “gender-affirming care” can cause severe mental and physical disease and that it is impossible for minors to give “informed consent” to it.

These doctors “indicate repeatedly that they know that many children and their parents don’t understand the effects that puberty blockers, hormones, and surgeries will have on their bodies,” journalist Michael Shellenberger wrote in his summary of the leaked files. “And yet, they continue to perform and advocate for gender medicine.”

While the “self-identification law” does not include any provisions on medical interventions such as gender surgeries or puberty blockers, a website established by the German government has promoted blockers and hormone injections for gender-confused children.

The head and co-founder of the German pro-family organization DemoFürAlle, Hedwig von Beverfoerde, criticized the new law and pointed out that “socially transitioning” by changing one’s name and legal gender increases the likelihood that minors will go down the path of medical “transition,” even though most children and adolescents grow out of their gender-confusion once they hit adulthood.

“Even if the [German] government claims that the SBGG [self-determination law] has nothing to do with trans-medical measures, this law removes all protective barriers.”

“This is happening at a time when more and more countries are banning the use of puberty blockers, and the evidence from studies is becoming increasingly clear. Most recently, for example, a comprehensive study commissioned by the British Health Service (‘Cass Review’) shows that social transition with name and pronoun changes fuels medical transition and that most young people reconcile with their biological gender if they are given sufficient time to think about it,” she continued.

Von Beverfoerde concluded by calling on the German government to ban puberty blockers, cross-sex hormone injections, and surgical interventions for minors.

READ: UK’s National Health Service to stop prescribing puberty blockers to gender-confused children

Chancellor Olaf Scholz from the Social Democratic Party (SPD) welcomed the law: “We show respect for transgender, intersex and non-binary people – without taking anything away from others.”

“This is how we continue to drive forward the modernization of our country,” he added.

The law was criticized by the politicians from the Christian Democrats (CDU/CSU), the Alternative for Germany (AfD), and the Bünsdnis Sarah Wagenknect (BSW).

AfD MP Martin Reichardt said the law was “ideological nonsense” promoted by “trans-extremists” and that his party rejected the “ludicrous law” in its entirety.

Under the new law, anyone who reveals the former name or true gender of someone who changed their legal registry can be fined up to € 10,000 ($ 10,672) if they share this information “with the intent to harm.”

However, as a report by the newspaper NZZ points out, in the case of war, gender ideology has to take a back seat.

“An exception to the unrestricted change of gender entry applies to men if the request for change is obviously in connection with an impending conscription in case of national defense,” the NZZ article states. “In such a case, the gender entry cannot be changed. Men must then remain men.”

The Self-Determination law is due to come into force on November 1, 2024.

International

Poilievre, Carney show support for Maduro capture as NDP’s interim leader denounces it

Published on

From LifeSiteNews

By Anthony Murdoch

Conservative Party leader Pierre Poilievre happily welcomed the capture of Venezuelan dictator Nicolás Maduro by the United States on Saturday and Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney seemed to approve 0as well.

In a statement posted to X over the weekend, Poilievre, whose wife is from Venezuela, thanked U.S. President Donald Trump for the capture of Maduro.

“Congratulations to President Trump on successfully arresting narco-terrorist and socialist dictator Nicolas Maduro, who should live out his days in prison,” Poilievre wrote.

Poilievre said that the “legitimate winner of the most recent Venezuelan elections, Edmundo González,” should take office, along with the courageous hero and voice of the Venezuelan people, María Corina Machado.”

“Down with socialism. Long live freedom,” he added.

As for Carney, in a social media statement Saturday, he noted how Canada had imposed sanctions on Maduro’s “brutally oppressive and criminal regime — unequivocally condemning his grave breaches of international peace and security, gross and systematic human rights violations, and corruption.”

“Canada has not recognized the illegitimate regime of Maduro since it stole the 2018 election,” he wrote.

“The Canadian government therefore welcomes the opportunity for freedom, democracy, peace, and prosperity for the Venezuelan people.”

As reported by LifeSiteNews, on January 3, U.S. special forces captured Maduro and flew him out of Venezuela in a sophisticated military operation. Maduro’s wife, Cilia Flores, was captured as well, and both were taken to New York, where they have been charged with drug trafficking.

Don Davies said on social media that the “attack on Venezuela is neither an act of self defence nor does it have UN Security Council authorization.”

“It is therefore totally illegal and a breach of the UN covenants the US has agreed to uphold as a Member State,” he claimed.

He also said, “The U.S. can have no credibility upholding international law and the rights of nations when it blatantly violates those principles itself.”

U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi’s indictment of Maduro’s regime accuses it of working to transport “thousands of tons of cocaine to the United States” and says that he “partnered with some of the most violent and prolific drug traffickers and narco-terrorists in the world” to flood the U.S. with the deadly drug.

Trump has said that the United States will now have access to oil that belongs to them, and that the United States will “run” Venezuela temporarily to provide for a “safe transition.”

As for Maduro, he rose to power in 2013 after the death of far-left president Hugo Chávez.

Venezuelan special forces committed more than 5,000 extrajudicial killings in 2018 alone, according to a United Nations report.

The Maduro regime was also responsible for jailing thousands of protesters and other people classified as political opponents and frequently tortured and abused prisoners, human rights groups have attested.

Also, the Maduro regime has engaged in anti-Catholic persecutions. In December, Venezuelan authorities blocked Cardinal Baltazar Porras, the 81-year-old former archbishop of Caracas, from boarding a flight out of the country, detaining him, confiscating his Venezuelan passport, and rejecting his Vatican passport.

Under Maduro’s leadership, Venezuela has suffered a catastrophic economic collapse due to his and Chavez’s socialist policies, including price controls, massive public spending, and the nationalization of major industries.

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Courageous Discourse

Largest rollback of routine childhood vaccination in U.S. history

Published on

By Nicolas Hulscher, MPH

CDC SHRINKS ROUTINE CHILDHOOD VACCINE SCHEDULE BY ~55 DOSES

Today, the CDC formally adopted a revised childhood and adolescent immunization schedule, following a Presidential Memorandum directing alignment with international best practices.

This marks the largest rollback of routine childhood vaccination in U.S. history.

After reviewing peer-country schedules and the scientific evidence underlying them, federal health leadership acknowledged that we are hyper-vaccinating our children.

The result is a dramatically smaller routine childhood vaccine schedule, cutting approximately 55 routine doses.

This is a major victory — even as serious safety concerns remain for the vaccines that continue to be recommended.


The Key Change: ~55 Routine Doses Eliminated

Previous U.S. routine schedule (2024)

  • 84–88 routine vaccine doses
  • Targeting 17 diseases
  • (18 if RSV monoclonal antibody is included)

New CDC routine schedule (2026)

  • ~30 routine doses
  • Targeting 10–11 diseases
  • Based on international consensus

Net change: approximately 54–58 routine doses removed, commonly summarized as ~55 routine doses.

Importantly, this reduction applies only to vaccines previously labeled “routine for all children.” No vaccines were banned or removed from availability.


What Was Removed from the Routine Schedule

The following vaccines are no longer recommended for all children by default:

  • COVID-19
  • Influenza
  • Hepatitis A
  • Hepatitis B (including removal of the universal birth dose if the mother is HBsAg-negative)
  • Rotavirus
  • Meningococcal ACWY
  • Meningococcal B

These vaccines account for nearly the entire ~55-dose reduction.


What Remains Routine

The CDC now limits routine childhood vaccination to the following vaccines:

  • Measles, Mumps, Rubella (MMR)
  • Diphtheria
  • Tetanus
  • Pertussis
  • Polio
  • Haemophilus influenzae type B (Hib)
  • Pneumococcal disease
  • Varicella (chickenpox)
  • Human Papillomavirus (HPV), reduced from two doses to one

This is still not “safe by default”

These vaccines remain:

  • Insufficiently studied for long-term outcomes
  • Untested in placebo-controlled trials
  • Never evaluated as a cumulative schedule
  • Inducers of over 20 chronic diseases

Adverse events such as febrile seizures, severe neurological injury including autism, ADHD, tics, autoimmune disease, asthma, allergies, skin and gut disorders, ear infections, and a long list of other chronic diseases have been documented across multiple vaccines on this list:

Reducing the schedule does not equal proving safety. It simply reduces exposure. Nonetheless, that reduction alone is quite meaningful.


Where Those Vaccines Went

Non-consensus vaccines were reclassified, not banned:

Shared Clinical Decision-Making

  • COVID-19
  • Influenza
  • Hepatitis A
  • Hepatitis B
  • Rotavirus
  • Meningococcal ACWY
  • Meningococcal B

High-Risk Groups Only

  • RSV monoclonal antibody
  • Hepatitis A (travel, outbreaks, liver disease)
  • Hepatitis B (HBsAg-positive or unknown maternal status)
  • Dengue
  • Meningococcal vaccines for defined risk groups

All remain available and fully covered by insurance. However, given entrenched institutional habits and ideological adherence to maximal vaccination, many clinicians are likely to continue promoting shared clinical decision-making vaccines as de facto routine unless families are informed and assertive.


Why This Is Still a Massive Win

For decades, the childhood vaccine schedule expanded without:

  • Schedule-level safety trials
  • Long-term outcome data
  • Meaningful public debate
  • Informed consent

This decision reverses that trajectory. It:

  • Shrinks routine exposure dramatically
  • Restores parental agency
  • Forces future decisions to confront risk-benefit reality

Most importantly, it breaks the false premise that “more vaccines is always better.”


Conclusion

The CDC has eliminated every non-consensus vaccine from the routine childhood schedule, cutting routine exposure by approximately 55 doses—an implicit admission that the safety of the expanded schedule was never adequately established.

This decision does not end the problem. The vaccines that remain routinely recommended are still largely untested in long-term, placebo-controlled trials, are administered during critical periods of neurodevelopment, and continue to pose serious safety concerns. As a result, a substantial number of autism cases and other chronic conditions will continue to occur.

However, by sharply reducing cumulative exposure during early childhood, this change marks the first credible step toward reversing the trajectory. The burden of neurodevelopmental injury should begin to decline—not disappear, but diminish.

Even with its limitations, this action represents the most consequential course correction in U.S. pediatric vaccination policy in modern history. It breaks the assumption that an ever-expanding schedule is inherently safe, restores proportionality, and opens the door to long-overdue accountability, transparency, and real safety science.


Nicolas Hulscher, MPH

Epidemiologist and Foundation Administrator, McCullough Foundation

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