The ASPS said this week that doctors should delay gender manipulation surgeries until a patient is at least 19 years of age. ASPS is the first major medical group to oppose gender manipulation surgeries for minors.
American Family News (AFN) spoke with Dr. Kurt Miceli, chief medical officer for Do No Harm, who called it a rare move.
"They changed course, and they actually considered the data, the evidence. They've looked at the new comprehensive evidence reviews that have come out over the past few years, and they were willing to revisit some assumptions and confront the uncertainty and ultimately prioritize patient welfare," says Miceli.
And prioritizing patient welfare, said Miceli, is what is essential for medicine to do.
"In doing so, the ASPS concluded that there was insufficient evidence demonstrating a favorable risk benefit profile for gender-related endocrine and surgical interventions," said Miceli. "So, effectively, these interventions on kids are not justified at all. The evidence just isn't there, and we shouldn't be doing them. That's a huge development for an entity within organized medicine to make that clear."
Senator Roger Marshall (R-Kansas), an OB-GYN who serves on the Senate’s health committee, spoke with Tony Perkins on Washington Watch. He said that this is the best news he’s heard from the medical societies in years.
“I'm grateful to the plastic surgeons. They're the ones that would do this. So, for that college to condemn it, it'll speak volumes. I hope the AMA and other folks will follow,” says Marshall. “To do this type of surgery on a minor is absolutely child abuse. I think it's a step in the right direction.”
Shocking but necessary
Penny Nance, CEO and president of Concerned Women for America, also applauded the decision. In a press release, Nance called it a "shocking but long-needed reversal that will help protect children from life altering, sex-rejecting procedures" immediately.
"Perhaps it was due to the recent lawsuit filed by a 22-year-old woman against her doctors for pushing her into a double mastectomy while she was a minor, winning $2 million in a landmark ruling," states Nance. "Regardless, it is time for sex-rejecting procedures for minors to end."
HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. also commended ASPS for "standing up to the overmedicalization lobby" and defending what Kennedy called “sound science."
"By taking this stand, they are helping protect future generations of American children from irreversible harm," said Kennedy.
Miceli expressed hope that other medical organizations will follow suit. He mentioned the Endocrine Society and American Academy of Pediatrics by name, adding that it is time for those societies to look at their guidelines and position statements considering all the evidence.
Dr. Michael Artigues, president of American College of Pediatricians, made a similar statement to AFN.
"I urge the presidents of other medical organizations to follow the example of ASPS and also reverse their guidance pushing for sex-rejecting interventions on minors," says Artigues. "Such measures on minors are not backed by evidence-based medicine and cause physical, mental, and emotional harm to these children."
Trump leadership opened the door
Marshall comments that this decision would not have been made under the administration of former President Joe Biden.
“They were going to force medical students, nurses, to participate in these types of surgeries. It's very lucrative for the folks that make the hormones as well,” states Marshall. “The second that Donald Trump was elected, then that trade was stopped.”
Now, Marshall says, people might be more willing to speak out against these surgeries, against the allowance of boys in girls’ bathrooms (and vice versa), and against the parents being uninformed.
