Texas’ AG probes “experimental” trans treatments for kids
Paxton called the “potentially illegal activity” by the hospital “deeply disturbing”
Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton has announced a probe into “potentially illegal activity” surrounding the use of so-called “gender-affirming” treatments for children at a children’s hospital.
“It is now alarmingly common for fringe activists to use their positions in medicine and health care to force experimental, life-altering procedures onto children,” he said in a statement. “Across the country, there are doctors and health care professionals who appear willing to sacrifice the long-term health of American children, all in service to the increasingly dangerous fad of ‘transgender’ extremism.”
Paxton’s office issued a Request to Examine Austin-based Dell Children’s Medical Center (DCMC) on May 5, seeking information on the use of puberty blockers in children, when parental consent was or wasn’t obtained, the ages of patients involved, and number of visits children are seen by practitioners at DCMC before being administered the “treatments.”
On April 25, Texas Sen.Ted Cruz and Texas Rep. Chip Roy (both Republicans) issued a letter to DCMC in response to a Project Veritas video seemingly portraying hospital employees as discussing transgender surgeries for children as young as 8.
“We, along with millions of Texans, find it deeply concerning that DCMC is providing experimental, unproven, and dangerous medical procedures to young children. These young Texans are often victimized by social media, societal pressures, and crazed gender ideologies into believing that they are either a boy ‘trapped’ in a girl’s body, or a girl ‘trapped’ in a boy’s body,” the lawmakers wrote.
In response, DCMC issued a statement pointing to hospital policy which “prohibits surgery and prescribing hormone therapy for the treatment of gender dysphoria for children,” vowing a thorough review of the situation.
Link: Texas AG Paxton Probes “Experimental” Trans Treatments for Children
Last week, the British government confirmed that the nation’s first babies have been born following the use of mitochondrial donation treatment (MDT), which uses the DNA of three parents to conceive a child.
The technique uses donor DNA spliced with the DNA of the mother to prevent passing mitochondrial defects on to her baby.
However, ethicists warn that the treatment could very easily pave the way for “designer babies.”
"Evidence suggests that transferring nuclear DNA into a host donor egg cell is unsafe and could impact future generations," James Mildred of the Christian charity CARE warns, as The Christian Post reported.
To begin with, the technique, he explained, destroys human embryos, raising serious ethical concerns.
What’s more, “nobody knows how a child will respond psychologically to the fact they have three parents.”
"The biotechnology being used, whilst well-intentioned in this instance, also raises the spectre of 'designer babies,'” he explained. “It's clear an ethical line in the sand has been crossed that we come to regret deeply in years to come."
On May 10, the UK’s Human Fertilization and Embryology Authority confirmed that fewer than five babies had been born using the technique, the Associated Press reported. It would not specify further.
In 2016, American doctors announced the first baby born using MDT to parents in Mexico.
Link: UK’s First “3-Parent Baby” Born, Raising Concerns About “Designer Babies”
Faith-based streaming service Pure Flix is partnering with Great American Media to offer its content on the TV channels Great American Family and Great American Living.
GAM has styled itself as an alternative to the Hallmark Channel, which has alienated many viewers with its inclusion of LGBT characters and plotlines in recent years on the previously wholesome, family-friendly channel.
Pure Flix and GAM are teaming up to share content across each other’s platforms, including the Sony-owned Christian company’s “God’s Not Dead” franchise and “The Chosen” series.
“This merger will allow us to further our commitment to original, quality content and makes Great American Media and Pure Flix leaders in a large and under-served market,” said GAM president and CEO, Bill Abbot, according to The Christian Post.
In 2020, Abbot stepped down as president to Crown Media, the parent company to Hallmark, following uproar over the channel’s first movie featuring a gay couple.
GAC later hired Candace Cameron Bure, a longtime Hallmark star and outspoken Christian, who now serves as chief creative officer for the network.
“I’m very excited to develop heartwarming family and faith-filled programming and make the kind of stories my family and I love to watch,” Bure said at the time.