Senate Dems remove Pentagon's ban on covering child gender transitions from Defense bill

[Leroy N. Soetoro]

https://nypost.com/2023/07/12/senate-dems-vote-against-dod-ban-on-
transgender-procedures-for-kids/

A handful of Senate Democrats voted last month against legislation that
would bar a military health benefit program from covering gender
procedures on children that could result in sterilization — including
hormone therapy and puberty blockers.

All 12 Democratic members of the Senate Armed Services Committee — as well
as independent Angus King of Maine — voted June 29 to strip the provision
from the must-pass 2024 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA), opening
the door for the Pentagon to fund so-called “gender-affirming care” for
minors.

Panel Chairman Jack Reed (D-RI) joined Sens. Jeanne Shaheen (D-NH),
Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY), Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.), Mazie Hirono (D-
Hawaii), Tim Kaine (D-Va.), Gary Peters (D-Mich.), Elizabeth Warren (D-
Mass.), Tammy Duckworth (D-Ill.) Jacky Rosen (D-Nev.), Mark Kelly (D-
Ariz.) and centrist Sen. Joe Manchin (D-WV) in opposing the provision
during the committee’s markup of the bill.

“Senator Manchin believes service members have earned the right to make
medical decisions for their children and families,” a spokesperson for the
West Virginian told The Post.

“Senator Rosen is deeply grateful for everything that our service members
do to keep us safe, and she believes they should have the ability to make
the health care decisions that are best for their own families,” a
spokesperson for her office also said in a statement.

No other members responded to a request for comment.

Twelve Republican senators voted in favor of keeping the coverage ban,
including ranking member Roger Wicker of Mississippi, Deb Fischer of
Nebraska, Tom Cotton of Arkansas, Mike Rounds of South Dakota, Joni Ernst
of Iowa, Dan Sullivan of Alaska, Kevin Cramer of North Dakota, Rick Scott
of Florida, Tommy Tuberville of Alabama, Markwayne Mullin of Oklahoma, Ted
Budd of North Carolina and Eric Schmitt of Missouri.

The motion would have blocked such interventions on Americans under 18
years old from being backed by the TRICARE health program.

Several Western nations have already banned or severely limited the
practice of hormone therapy and providing puberty-blocking drugs to
children, citing physical and psychological harms and the need for further
study of long-term effects.

The UK’s National Health Service announced last month that it would not
use puberty blockers “outside of a research setting.”

Sweden and Finland have also restricted the use of hormones outside of
severe cases, opting for psychological interventions instead.

US Assistant Health and Human Services Secretary Rachel Levine, a trans
woman, has supported the treatments and called criticism of the practices
“unconscionable.”

“President Biden supports you … Vice President [Kamala] Harris supports
you,” Levine said during a February talk at the Pediatric Grand Rounds in
Hartford, Conn. “Across the administration, the departments support you.”

Levine, who transitioned at the age of 40, previously spoke of the
downsides of childhood gender changes, saying, “I have no regrets, because
if I had transitioned when I was young then I wouldn’t have my children.”

Doctors in the Defense Department also praised “gender-affirming health
care” in an article for the American Journal of Public Health earlier this
year, arguing children “have an inherent ability and right to consent” to
the interventions.

US Army veteran and Nevada GOP Senate candidate Sam Brown told The Post he
was fighting to unseat Rosen in the 2024 election to cut out provisions
like the TRICARE gender coverage, which he said was “using taxpayers to
fund dangerous medical procedures on children.”

“This is just another example of how out of touch Jacky Rosen is with
everyday Nevadans and Americans,” Brown added.

The Pentagon spent $15 million between 2016 and 2021 on transgender
service members, of which $11.5 million was for psychotherapy and $3.1
million for actual operations, Military.com has reported. It is unclear
how much went toward procedures on minors.

The Senate Armed Services Committee began deliberations this month on
fiscal year 2024 spending for US defense, preparing to authorize $876.8
billion for an array of Defense Department and Department of Energy
programs.

The Senate typically votes on final NDAA approval before the August
recess, though Senate Majority Leader Schumer (D-NY) has postponed the
vote in the past few years.


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We live in a time where intelligent people are being silenced so that
stupid people won't be offended.

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No collusion - Special Counsel Robert Swan Mueller III, March 2019.
Officially made Nancy Pelosi a two-time impeachment loser.

Thank you for cleaning up the disaster of the 2008-2017 Obama / Biden
fiasco, President Trump.

Under Barack Obama's leadership, the United States of America became the
The World According To Garp. Obama sold out heterosexuals for Hollywood
queer liberal democrat donors.

President Trump boosted the economy, reduced illegal invasions, appointed
dozens of judges and three SCOTUS justices.