A transgender ACLU attorney defended gender transition procedures for children Tuesday while appearing to acknowledge they're too young to consent.
On CNN, Chase Strangio discussed an upcoming case involving Tennessee’s ban on puberty blockers and transgender surgeries for minors that the trans man will argue in front of the Supreme Court later this week.
Host Jake Tapper asked Strangio about people concerned that there is not enough data regarding the effects of minors receiving such procedures. Strangio insisted there was enough information to prove they helped kids and even some children under 10 need this "relief" from suffering.
"These are not doctors being forced to provide this medication," Strangio said. "These are doctors who are wanting to treat their patients in the best way that they know how, based on the best available evidence to us. And these are young people who may have known since they were two years old exactly who they are, who suffered for six or seven years before they had any relief."
Minors cannot legally consent to medical procedures and Strangio acknowledged this protection while trying to appeal to parental rights.
"What‘s happening here is not the kids who are consenting to this treatment. It‘s the parents who are consenting to the treatment," the attorney continued. "And as a parent, I would say, when our children are suffering, we are suffering. And these are parents who love their children, who are listening to the advice of their doctors of the mainstream medical community and doing what‘s right for their kids, and the state of Tennessee has displaced their judgment."
The upcoming case, U.S. v. Skrmetti, will be the first time the Supreme Court will consider restrictions on puberty blockers, hormone therapy and surgery for minors.
Strangio claimed that if the Supreme Court sides with Tennessee, it could open the door for bans on transgender treatments for adults.
"I think that‘s one of the things we should be really concerned about. We‘re hearing a lot about young people can‘t consent to this care, but it is their parents consenting to this care," Strangio said.
"And at the end of the day, we have adults who live as transgender people, people like myself, who have families who are part of communities, who are part of this society. And if the incoming administration bans our health care, that is essentially excising us from this country."
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Tennessee is currently one of more than 20 states that have enacted some form of restrictions on gender transition procedures for minors.
