WICHITA FALLS, Texas (LifeSiteNews) – A federal court has blocked a Biden administration policy requiring doctors to perform transgender procedures and abortions regardless of religious or conscience objections.
Judge Reed O’Connor of the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Texas, Wichita Falls Division, permanently enjoined the federal government from implementing the so-called transgender mandate in a ruling handed down Monday.
The Obama administration first issued the transgender mandate in 2016, compelling healthcare providers to offer “sex change” procedures to any patient, regardless of age, upon the referral of a mental health professional. The rule, which did not include conscience exemptions, relied on an interpretation of a nondiscrimination clause of the Affordable Care Act (ACA).
The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) finalized a repeal of the mandate last year under President Trump, though the Biden administrated has since reinstated it. Biden health secretary Xavier Becerra sued to defend the policy after another ruling against it this year.
Judge O’Connor barred HHS “from interpreting or enforcing” the ACA “in a manner that would require [the plaintiffs] to perform or provide insurance coverage for gender-transition procedures or abortions, including by denying Federal financial assistance because of their failure to perform or provide insurance coverage for such procedures or by otherwise pursuing, charging, or assessing any penalties, fines, assessments, investigations, or other enforcement actions.”
In 2019, LifePetitions launched a similar petition on behalf of Jeff Younger (the father) and his son James, asking for support and for the Texas state authorities to intervene in a unbelievable case in which the Dallas courts keep flip-flopping over which parent has parental rights and, ultimately, whether or not James must be forced to live as a girl and suffer the trauma of so-called gender "transitioning," as his mom believes he is a girl.
Incredibly, we now seem to be back at square one.
Jeff Younger currently has a gag order put on him, which prohibits him to speak out in defense of his son. But, because he has recently decided to ignore that order, to save his son from irreversible surgery, this brave Dad now faces possible arrest.
Please SIGN and SHARE this urgent petition which does two things: 1) Supports Jeff Younger (again, the Dad) in his fight to save his son, James, from so-called gender "transitioning;" and, 2) Calls on Texas' Attorney General to intervene in this case and quash the gag order against Mr. Younger.
CLICK HERE to WATCH the latest LifeSite interview with Jeff Younger. Hear about the latest developments with his son, as well as the real dangers of gender reassignment surgery and other “transititioning” methods.
Currently, even though he shares 50/50 parental rights to James, which has allowed him to stop the chemical castration of his son, Jeff’s ex-wife recently sued to have full parental rights and to "give her sole medical and psychological decision making."
Jeff is also being threatened with jail time from the gag order, which he believes was intentionally done to stop him from helping pass legislation in Texas to ban sex-change surgeries for minors.
Jeff says that the gag order "prohibits me from speaking on all manner of political topics. And I’m not even allowed to tell you in that gag order whether my son’s a boy or girl."
But Jeff is speaking out, no matter what, because of the real danger that his son is in if he undergoes "transition" surgery.
Indeed, so-called gender "transitions" present many unsafe effects, some desired, some undesired, though all dangerous for one's physical and mental health.
Puberty-blocking drugs and cross-sex hormones have not been proven safe. For example, the FDA has NOT approved Lupron and GnRH analogues for use in blocking puberty.
Risks associated with these pharmaceuticals include: low bone density, high blood pressure, weight gain, abnormal glucose tolerance, breast cancer, liver disease, thrombosis, and cardiovascular disease.
And, additional risks and potential harms include:
For Males: Stunting of penile and testicular growth, sexual dysfunction, prevention of spermatogenesis, and disruption of normal brain and bone development.
For Females: A menopause-like state, blockade of normal breast development, decreased blood flow to vagina and vulva, sexual dysfunction, thinning of vaginal epithelium, vaginal atrophy, prevention of menses/ovulation, and disruption of normal brain and bone development.
In other words, these medications can sterilize and cause medical harm to vulnerable, confused children.
And, the stunning part about this: studies show that 85% of gender confused children eventually become comfortable with the sex of their bodies.
Please SIGN and SHARE this urgent petition which supports Jeff Younger, a Texas Dad, who is fighting to prevent his son, James, from being "turned into a girl." At the same time, we appeal to Texas State Attorney General, to intervene in this case and quash the gag order against Jeff.
Thank you!
FOR MORE INFORMATION:
'Save James: Father risks arrest to save 9-year-old son from forced gender-transition': https://www.lifesitenews.com/blogs/save-james-father-risks-arrest-to-save-9-year-old-son-from-forced-gender-transition
FOR MORE INFORMATION ON THE DANGERS OF PUSHING GENDER IDEOLOGY ON CHILDREN:
Many eminent psychiatrists are now speaking against the faulty notion that sex is fluid and a matter of choice. In particular, they are concerned about the welfare of children and young people in this regard.
Dr Paul McHugh, former psychiatrist-in-chief at Johns Hopkins University, who has researched the occurrence of gender dysphoria for 40 years, has stated that the notion of gender fluidity "is doing much damage to families, adolescents, and children and should be confronted as an opinion without biological foundation wherever it emerges". [See more below.]
And, the American College of Pediatricians (ACP) is definite about the promotion of transgenderism as being harmful public policy:
"Human sexuality is an objective biological binary trait: 'XY' and 'XX' are genetic markers of health – not genetic markers of a disorder. The norm for human design is to be conceived, either male or female…Conditioning children into believing that a lifetime of chemical and surgical impersonation of the opposite sex is normal and healthful is child abuse. Endorsing gender discordance as normal via public education and legal policies will confuse children and parents…” [Read more below.]
Here is what Dr Paul McHugh said on this topic: https://www.cnsnews.com/blog/michael-w-chapman/johns-hopkins-psychiatrist-transgendered-men-dont-become-women-they-become
This is the ACP statement on Gender Ideology: http://www.acpeds.org/the-college-speaks/position-statements/gender-ideology-harms-children
About the medical risks associated with medical interventions to attempt to change the sex of the body: https://www.thepublicdiscourse.com/2020/01/59422/
About some of the unconscionable practices some medical professionals are engaged in:
He also granted a permanent injunction to the plaintiffs in the case, a Christian association of more than 19,000 medical professionals and a Catholic hospital association, “to be exempt from the government’s requirement to perform abortions and gender-transition procedures.”
O’Connor held that the transgender mandate violates the Religious Freedom Restoration Act “by placing substantial pressure” on the plaintiffs to violate their religious beliefs.
“No party disputes that the [mandate] threatens to burden Christian Plaintiffs’ religious exercise … by placing substantial pressure on Christian Plaintiffs, in the form of fines and civil liability, to perform and provide insurance coverage for gender-transition procedures and abortions.”
“When the RFRA violation is clear and the threat of irreparable harm is present, a permanent injunction exempting Christian Plaintiffs from that religion-burdening conduct is the appropriate relief,” wrote O’Connor.
“Today’s decision rightly says the mandate violates federal law,” said Luke Goodrich, vice president and senior counsel at Becket Fund for Religious Liberty. “Today’s ruling protects patients, aligns with current medical research, and ensures doctors aren’t forced to violate their religious beliefs and medical judgment–a victory for common-sense, conscience, and sound medicine,” he added.
The case, Franciscan Alliance, Inc. et al. v. Xavier Becerra, is one of several involving legal challenges to the rule.
Since 2016, nine states and several religious organizations have sued to block the transgender mandate in court, according to the Becket Fund.
Judge O’Connor initially blocked the mandate in 2016, before striking it down in 2019. The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit sent the case back to O’Connor in April, without ruling on the merits of the Franciscan Alliance lawsuit. The North Dakota Eastern Division court also ruled against the policy in February.
Secretary Becerra in April appealed the North Dakota ruling, in a lawsuit targeting the Catholic Benefits Association and a group of Catholics nuns.
The Biden administration has 60 days to decide whether to appeal O’Connor’s latest decision.