The state of Pennsylvania has spent $16.7 million in taxpayer money on sex-change surgeries and other gender transition services for children since 2015, according to a Tuesday report from the Pennsylvania Family Council (PFI).
A Right-To-Know request submitted by the PFI uncovered that the state’s Department of Human Services has spent millions “on sex reassignment and transition related services and drugs for service.” The totals include expenditures from the Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP), Fee-For-Service (FFS) paid claims and payments through HealthChoices.
The amount spent on sex-change services has risen rapidly since 2015. That year, public health authorities spent just $78,073.38. In 2017, spending on gender transitions for children topped $1 million and rose to $3,928,854.71 in 2021. (RELATED: Study: Demand For Abortion Pills Spiked In Red States Post-Dobbs)
“We need to find out more from the state on where these millions in funding [are] going,” Dan Bartkowiak, director of communications at the Pennsylvania Family Institute, told the Daily Caller.
BREAKING: PA Family submitted a RTK request and found out that to date, since 2015, the @PAHumanServices has spent over $16.7 million in tax dollars through PA Medical Assistance “on sex reassignment and transition related services and drugs for service.”https://t.co/VGLneaUxIx
— Pennsylvania Family Council (@PFIpolicy) November 2, 2022
PFI’s original report stated that “[q]uestions remain as to who are the major recipients of all this taxpayer funding.”
“Pennsylvania Family Institute intends to submit additional requests to help obtain this needed information,” Bartkowiak told the Caller. “It would have to be a medical provider that accepts Medical Assistance or CHIP. Many private providers do not accept that type of funding. The major medical providers in Pennsylvania [that] do accept it: [Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia], Penn State Health, Penn Medicine, and UPMC Children’s Hospital of Pittsburgh.”
Bartkowiak said that politicians should pass legislation that opposes sex-change services for children.
“If we prioritize the health and safety of children, the people of Pennsylvania should be vocal in their concerns to their state and Congressional offices and make this a top priority for any elected official involved — both at the state and federal level.”