California Gov. Gavin Newsom signed AB 2218 into law Sept. 26, which establishes a Transgender Wellness and Equity Fund. The fund uses taxpayer dollars to give grants to nonprofits, hospitals and health care clinics that provide transgender-identifying minors and adults with gender transitioning drugs and surgeries.
For months, opponents of the bill have pointed out that one of the side effects of the combination of puberty-blocking drugs and cross-sex hormones is permanent infertility.
Even The Center for Transyouth Health and Development at Children’s Hospital of Los Angeles (CHLA) warns parents of the irreversible damage gender transitioning drugs cause their children. Before trans-identifying minors are allowed to start their transition using puberty blockers and cross-sex hormones, CHLA requires their parents to sign a consent form that says the following:
“If your child starts puberty blockers in the earliest stages of puberty, and then goes on to gender affirming hormones, they will not develop sperm or eggs. This means that they will not have biological children.” The consent form continues with the following sentence underlined and in italics: “This is an important aspect of blocking puberty and progressing to hormones that you should understand prior to moving forward with puberty suppression.”
In late July, the Senate Health Committee chair made the decision to table AB 2218 for the rest of the year, but legislators revived the bill after pressure from transgender activists. And despite objections from many parents and medical professionals, the controversial bill passed the Assembly 54-10 and the Senate 28-9 in late August.
After signing the bill last week, Newsom sent out a celebratory press release, saying that the newly established Transgender Wellness and Equity Fund helps “advance inclusive and culturally competent efforts that uphold the dignity of all Californians.”
But not everyone agrees.
“By rejecting the concerns of doctors and parents and siding with LGBT activists, Gov. Newsom yet again is ignoring the heartbreak his policies will unleash,” wrote Jonathan Keller, president of California Family Council.
He continued: “AB 2218 opens the door to drugs and surgeries causing irreversible damage, risking life-long sterility for young people. Sadly, the governor failed in his God-given responsibility to protect the people he was elected to serve.”
Christian psychologist Dr. James Dobson, president of the James Dobson Family Institute, also spoke out about the dangers of AB 2218.
“No rational society or compassionate individual could possibly celebrate the mutilation of adolescents or adults,” Dobson said. “And yet this bill would fund procedures including double mastectomies on adolescent girls and genital amputations and reconstructive procedures for individuals older than 18. This isn’t the fulfillment of personal autonomy—this is the celebration of acts of cruelty. Experimenting on vulnerable children and adults is not just unethical; it is morally repugnant.”
Above: California Gov. Gavin Newsom gives a thumbs up at the annual LGBT Pride Parade in San Francisco on June 25, 2017.
Photo: Terry Schmitt/UPI/Alamy Stock Photo