Tennessee’s Republican Governor has called for an investigation into Vanderbilt University Medical Center (VUMC) over the organization’s reported involvement in performing irreversible surgeries on minors, a spokeswoman for Gov. Bill Lee told the Daily Caller.
Lee is calling on the state’s Attorney General to investigate whether VUMC crossed any ethical or legal guidelines when operating or providing “gender-affirming” hormone treatments to minors.
Spokeswoman Casey Sellers told the Daily Caller that Lee’s office has “shared concerns with the Attorney General.” An official investigation has yet to be launched.
“The ‘pediatric transgender clinic’ at Vanderbilt University Medical Center raises serious moral, ethical and legal concerns,” Lee said in a statement. “We should not allow permanent, life-altering decisions that hurt children or policies that suppress religious liberties, all for the purpose of financial gain. We have to protect Tennessee children, and this warrants a thorough investigation.”
The push for an investigation came after The Daily Wire’s Matt Walsh posted video footage of VUMC in which Dr. Shayne Sebold Taylor apparently admits that transgender surgeries “make money for the hospital.” The university system reportedly makes thousands of dollars by performing irreversible surgeries on both minor and adult patients who suffer from gender dysphoria.
“These surgeries are labor intensive, they require a lot of follow-ups, they require a lot of OR time, and they make money. They make money for the hospital,” Taylor said in the video.
Vanderbilt opened its trans clinic in 2018. During a lecture the same year, Dr. Shayne Taylor explained how she convinced Nashville to get into the gender transition game. She emphasized that it’s a “big money maker,” especially because the surgeries require a lot of “follow ups” pic.twitter.com/zedM7HBCBe
— Matt Walsh (@MattWalshBlog) September 20, 2022
VUMC reportedly scrubbed its website discussing transgender issues following Walsh’s report. (RELATED: Boston Children’s Hospital Updates Standards After Offering Sex Change Surgeries To Teens)
A spokesperson for VUMC told the Daily Caller that Walsh’s videos “misrepresent facts” about the care provided to transgender patients. The spokesman declined to answer whether the hospital received any threats since Walsh’s report.
“VUMC requires parental consent to treat a minor patient who is to be seen for issues related to transgender care and never refuses parental involvement in the care of transgender youth who are under age 18,” the spokesperson said.