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WASHINGTON, D.C., March 1, 2019 (LifeSiteNews) – As the debate rages over President Donald Trump’s proposed ban on gender-confused soldiers in the U.S. Armed Forces, a new report is shining a light on the costs of the controversy.

USA Today reports that since July 1, 2016, a total of 1,524 soldiers have been diagnosed with gender dysphoria. Between psychotherapy visits, hormone prescriptions, and surgical procedures such as breast reductions or augmentations and “male reproductive” procedures, the treatment totaled $7,943,906.75.

The Pentagon’s overall healthcare budget is $50 billion a year for a total of 2.1 million service members. Transgender troops represent 0.7 percent of the total force. While the sum is a small percentage of the budget, it offers an idea of how costs could increase with further recruitment of the gender-confused and cultural normalization of gender fluidity, and fiscal hawks argue that every bit of unnecessary or ill-advised spending contributes to the country’s overall fiscal woes.

On Wednesday, the House Armed Services Personnel Subcommittee heard testimony for and against the Trump administration policy, which is currently working its way through the courts. It would disqualify “transgender persons with a history or diagnosis of gender dysphoria,” specifically those who “may require substantial medical treatment, including medications and surgery,” except in “certain limited circumstances.”

“Good leaders can take a team and make it work,” argued Lt. Cmdr. Blake Dremann, president of the transgender military group SPARTA, the homosexual paper the Washington Blade reports. “Great leaders mold their teams to exceed expectations because it doesn’t matter if you’re female or LGBT. What matters is that each member is capable and focused on the mission.”

Democrats such as Rep. Jackie Speier attacked the ban as “maliciously jeopardizing your careers and trivializing your sacrifice,” USA Today adds. But Vice Adm. Raquel Bono, director of the Defense Health Agency, testified that the military has observed transgenderism-related issues that groups such as the American Medical Association fail to recognize, such as higher numbers of visits to mental health professionals and more frequent suicidal thoughts.

The ban was developed after “extensive study by senior uniformed and civilian leaders, including combat veterans,” according to the White House and as detailed in a memo from former Defense Secretary James Mattis. The American Psychiatric Association still classifies gender dysphoria as a mental disorder, as did the World Health Organization until last summer.

“A psychological disorder bans you from any type of military service,” argued former Army drill instructor John Burk, a veteran of Iraq and Afghanistan, in a 2017 viral video. “Guess what? Color blindness disqualifies you from the military […] Are we ‘discriminatory’ towards color-blind people?”

Last month, a poll conducted by Smithsonian, Stars and Stripes, and the Schar School at George Mason University found that just 39 percent of current and former service members support transgender military service.