The American Academy of Pediatrics’ (AAP) official position in support of medically transitioning children to the opposite sex was written by just one doctor with “contributions” from two transgender activists without medical degrees, according to a report co-published by the Washington Free Beacon and Common Sense.
The AAP’s position is widely cited as evidence that gender transitions for minors are safe, effective and necessary, and activists frequently use the AAP’s support to shut down dissent against the procedures, according to the Free Beacon. The AAP’s 2018 statement, “Ensuring Comprehensive Care and Support for Transgender and Gender-Diverse Children and Adolescents,” which represents the organization’s official position, was written by a single doctor, Jason Rafferty, who cited only two individuals without medical credentials in his acknowledgements. (RELATED: ‘Groomed And Preyed Upon’: Young Woman Was Pressured Into Mastectomy, Testosterone As A Child — Now She Regrets It)
Rafferty thanked two individuals for contributing to and reviewing the 2018 statement; neither has medical degrees, according to the Free Beacon, which identified the two as transgender activists.
The statement written by Rafferty acknowledges the potential long-term risks to bone metabolism and fertility, but said they could be prescribed at the earliest stages of puberty, did not list any requirements for eligibility and called the drug “reversible.”
The American Academy of Pediatrics’s guidance on trans kids was written by one gender clinician with help from 2 trans activists, neither of whom has a medical degree.
Its guidance on COVID vaccines was drafted without input from its cardiology section.🧵 https://t.co/FJRUD1zz4f
— Aaron Sibarium (@aaronsibarium) December 7, 2022
“There was clearly no fact-checking,” one longtime AAP member told the Free Beacon. “The AAP thought trans was the next civil rights crusade and got boondoggled by enthusiastic young doctors.”
The AAP advocates in favor of what it calls the “gender affirming care model,” endorsed in Rafferty’s statement, meaning medical professionals are supposed to affirm and encourage a child’s transgender identification, paving the way for a medical transition. The 2018 statement on behalf of the AAP is sharply critical of a therapy-based approach which aims to help children accept their natural bodies, and refers to this approach as “inappropriate” and “outside the mainstream of traditional medical practice.”
This position, made official in 2018, was a departure from the Western medical community, which favors “watchful waiting” given that most young people with gender dysphoria naturally outgrow it by adulthood, according to the Free Beacon.
The AAP and Rafferty did not respond to the Daily Caller News Foundation’s requests for comment.
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