Take The Politicians Out Of Medical Decisions

Take The Politicians Out Of Medical Decisions

– By Ed Kociela –

More than anything, our lives should revolve around our children.

All of our children.

Like her or not, Hillary Clinton was right when she said it takes a village to raise a child.

And, right now, that village is doing a lousy job as state after state lines up with fresh legislation to end psychological and medical treatments for transgender children.

Let us break this down.

These are politicians, not medical or psychological researchers or practitioners, who are making decisions they are not equipped to make. I mean, really, would you like to have one of those guys make a diagnosis from your medical chart? I think not.

Lives and livelihoods are at stake here, so there really should be no allowance for a margin of error to creep into the mix or a decision that is based on personal prejudices and ignorance.

I am close to a family that is desperately trying to find a way to continue to have their child taken care of mentally, physically, and spiritually. It impacts them all – mother, father, brothers, sisters, cousins, aunts, uncles, grandparents, family friends – in ways you will never understand or know.

And, it is all because the usual suspect states – Utah, Idaho, Montana, North Dakota, South Dakota, Arizona, Iowa, Missouri, Arkansas, Indiana, Kentucky, West Virginia, Tennessee, Mississippi, Alabama, Georgia, and Florida – have stacked the deck against these young people by passing legislation that blocks their access to best-practice medical care that, after years of research, has been approved by the American Medical Association, the American Academy of Pediatrics, and other leading health groups whose job is to care for the well-being of our children. This would include access to puberty blockers, hormones, and surgical procedures.

Lives are literally on the line. According to the National Institutes of Health, 82 percent of transgender people have considered killing themselves, and 40 percent have actually tried. Not surprisingly, suicidality among transgender youth is the highest in the study.

Whether through ignorance or religious domination and influence, the legislators in these states will have blood on their hands before this is all over, as will the folks who put them in office for giving them that power.

How does any of this affect you, or you or you?

If you attack on so-called religious grounds, back off and let God take care of it. Remember, “Judge not, that ye be not judged for with what judgment ye judge ye shall be judged; and with what measure ye mete, it shall be measured to you again.”

These legislators do not worry about the humiliation and danger they place upon the transgender population because, well, they don’t account for a large number of voters. They can bully them because there are only about 1.6 million transgender people 13 and older in the United States at this time, according to health survey data collected by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention from 2017 through 2020. I suspect that the numbers are greater, but because of the sensitivity and fear factors, a segment of the population is reluctant to speak of their disassociation with their birth gender. Many, rightfully so, are just too afraid to come forward, which leaves them feeling isolated, which fuels suicidal ideation.

Look, I am not going to try to pontificate about those feelings. I simply cannot, and neither can you. It is not within our realm of knowledge or experience. But, I can say that to shrug it off because you do not understand is sheer ignorance and a lack of caring for your brothers and sisters. There are many mysteries I do not understand, and that is fine with me. All I know is that I believe in that business of “love your neighbor as yourself.” There is wisdom, as well as some pretty good karma, in that. Besides, don’t we already have enough hate and bitterness in this world without victimizing people who want to live a simple and unobtrusive life?

So, I do not have to be gay to be supportive of the rights of those who are, and I do not have to be transgender to stand up for the children and adults who are. The point is that I really do not care if you are gay, straight, or transgender, just like I do not care if you are black, white, or brown. I care more about what is in your heart than who you love, I care more about what is in your heart than what color your skin is, and I care more about what is in your heart than what little dot on the globe you happen to come from.

Period.

End of story.

Except, it is not the end of the story because, besides the laws restricting minors from access to puberty blockers, hormones, and surgical procedures, there is a need for cultural reflection and change, an equally difficult challenge.

It goes beyond the houses of legislation and into the houses of those who really matter – the purveyors of public opinion who remain uninformed and more bent on taking their petty little prejudices and making others suffer. Especially among those who claim to be doing so for religious reasons. They fail, I believe, to understand the true believer’s heart that there is room for all on this spinning rock we call home and that we should all have the right to peace and harmony.

I worry about these laws and the impact they will have. But I also understand human nature, and with or without these laws, there is an unfair social penalty to be paid if you are a member of the LGBTQ community. And, the younger you are, the stiffer the penalty – from being ostracized to being humiliated to being murdered or driven to suicide.

There was a comedian who used the tagline, “You can’t fix stupid.”

I used to think that it was an appropriate closing line, something funny to linger in the audience’s mind.

Unfortunately, when I see legislators applying personal bias into how we live our lives, I see exactly how astute the comedian’s observance is.

The only thing is, this is no laughing matter.

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