Catholic health group backs HHS review: ‘Gender affirming’ care is harmful to children
Caroline MolloyThe Christ Medicus Foundation is praising the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) for a new federal report rejecting “gender-affirming” procedures for minors, calling it a major step toward protecting children.
In a May 3 press release, Louis Brown Jr., the Catholic nonprofit’s executive director, said the report confirms what many medical professionals and families have long suspected: interventions like puberty blockers, cross-sex hormones, and surgeries pose serious, often-irreversible risks to children experiencing gender dysphoria.
“HHS has justly repudiated the prior unsafe and harmful approach of transgender medical interventions and so-called ‘gender affirming’ procedures for children and adolescents,” Brown said.
The HHS review, “Treatment for Pediatric Gender Dysphoria,” raised alarm over the “very low” quality of evidence supporting interventions such as puberty blockers, cross-sex hormones, and surgeries. CatholicVote reported that the HHS found that key studies lacked adequate follow-up and that potential benefits were likely overstated, while risks — including irreversible harm — remain under-examined.
Brown emphasized that such procedures are “not care and are not medicine” and violate a child’s natural dignity: “All children are owed love, compassion, and authentic medical care for mind, body and soul.”
The report aligns with growing international consensus, according to Brown.
“The HHS review actually follows the medical evidence and confirms what more liberal governments around the world already have declared — social and medical transitioning of children is dangerous, harmful and unethical,” Brown said.
He pointed to the United Kingdom’s 2023 decision to ban puberty blockers for minors as one notable example.
Brown criticized past U.S. leadership and much of the medical establishment for ignoring the warning signs.
“Our last administration along with most of the traditional media and many in the medical profession sadly ignored the mounting evidence,” he said, “and the increasing number of adolescents and young adults who are detransitioning and crying out for help.”
He added that the country has reached a “tipping point,” and he called on civil society to “end this public-sanctioned abuse and to get back to treating and protecting the child.”
Brown also urged Congress to act.
