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A growing number of major medical institutions are ending transgender medical interventions for minors as federal scrutiny intensifies and evidence surrounding the procedures continues to be debated.
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The latest organization to change course is Ohio’s Cleveland Clinic, which has agreed to stop providing puberty blockers, cross-sex hormones, and transgender surgeries to minors as part of a settlement with the Department of Justice.
From CBN:
In a settlement with the U.S. Department of Justice, Ohio’s renowned Cleveland Clinic will no longer provide transgender services like puberty blockers, cross-sex hormones, and surgeries to minors at its six medical centers for the next 20 years. In addition, the organization will pay $2 million toward de-transition care and $308,000 to resolve billing allegations.
Dr. Kurt Miceli, Chief Medical Officer for Do No Harm, a medical organization that seeks to counteract youth-focused gender ideology, told CBN News the agreement represents a “momentous victory.”
“The evidence just simply isn’t there in terms of pediatric medical transition,” he said. “There’s very low evidence of any benefit, and there’s significant harm, significant risks. And that includes infertility, cardiovascular effects, the impacts to bone health, and certainly the surgeries.”
The Cleveland Clinic is the second major medical institution in recent months to reach a similar agreement with federal authorities. Texas Children’s Hospital previously announced it would halt transgender procedures for minors as well, though neither institution admitted wrongdoing as part of their respective settlements.
At the center of the investigations are allegations that some medical providers may have improperly billed insurance companies for transgender-related treatments. Federal officials are examining whether procedures and medications were submitted under alternate diagnostic codes rather than being identified as gender-transition treatments.
According to critics of pediatric gender medicine, however, the larger issue extends beyond billing practices. They argue that children experiencing gender confusion should receive counseling and psychological support rather than irreversible medical interventions that can carry lifelong consequences.
Experts say that, in addition to billing fraud allegations, the greater injustice is what’s been done to the children.
“We need to be honest with what we’re doing as medical providers, but more importantly, we ultimately need to just stop doing these procedures on kids,” Dr. Miceli said. “These are vulnerable kids. They are going through times of gender confusion, and we shouldn’t be medicalizing them. We should be giving them help in terms of trying to understand what’s going on to help them through tough times.”
The Justice Department’s actions appear to be part of a broader national effort. Last year, federal investigators issued subpoenas seeking records from more than 20 children’s hospitals across the country. Former Attorney General Pam Bondi pledged to hold accountable those who profit from or facilitate medical procedures performed on minors struggling with gender identity issues.
The investigations have also sparked legal challenges. Parents of children who received transgender treatments have filed lawsuits seeking to block some of the subpoenas, arguing that they violate privacy rights and constitutional protections. Several courts have sided with the families, while the Trump administration has vowed to appeal those decisions.
As the legal battles continue, the Cleveland Clinic settlement marks another significant development in the national debate over pediatric transgender medicine. Supporters see the agreement as a major step toward protecting children from irreversible procedures, while opponents continue to argue that such treatments can be medically necessary in certain cases.
Share your prayers for children struggling with gender confusion in the comments.
(Excerpt from CBN. Photo Credit: Karollyne Videira Hubert on Unsplash)
