Doctors double down on support for gender-affirming care for trans people

The American Medical Association voted to protect access to gender-affirming care for transgender youth and adults at this week’s annual meeting.

While Republicans continue their assault on transgender people, the esteemed organization of doctors from all medical fields sided with science and proper medical care over politics.

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The resolution, sponsored by the Endocrine Society, committed the organization to opposing any criminal and legal penalties against patients seeking gender-affirming care, family members or guardians who support them in seeking medical care, and health care facilities and clinicians who provide gender-affirming care.

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“Due to widespread misinformation about medical care for transgender and gender-diverse teens, 18 states have passed laws or instituted policies banning gender-affirming care,” the society said in a statement released to the media. “These policies do not reflect the research landscape. More than 2,000 scientific studies have examined aspects of gender-affirming care since 1975.”

They note that while politicians have painted gender-affirming care for youth as radical, proper care procedures are conservative and measured. Despite widespread claims by the right, they note that genital surgery is only done after the age of 18. Instead, the standard of care involves using hormone treatment to delay puberty to maximize the time teenagers and their families have to explore their gender identity and make decisions about future care.

The organization specifically cited a study that found that those who received puberty-delaying hormone treatment had a lower likelihood of lifetime suicidal ideation than those who wanted it but did not receive it.

The organization’s new president, Jesse Ehrenfeld, also spoke up in defense of the physicians targeted and harassed by far-right activists and politicians. Multiple facilities have been forced to evacuate after bomb threats, and doctors have been threatened online and in person.

“Physicians across the country continue to shoulder the weight of enormous challenges. Yet despite these immense pressures – we physicians continue on,” he noted. “We do the work. We provide compassionate care. We make a difference. We change lives.”

“While our AMA may not have the power to change every part of society that rejects people who are seen as different, we do have the ability and obligation to ensure health care is always a safe space.”

“I’m proud of the courage our AMA has shown by standing up for science & ethics at a time of increasing aggression and hostility,” he continued.

“I choose optimism because I’ve seen how physicians have stepped up to counter disinformation, shine a light on the unacceptable toll of mental illness & violence, address health disparities, and get all patients access to the care they deserve.”