NASHVILLE (LifeSiteNews) – Tennessee’s Republican governor has demanded an investigation into the promotion of mutilating surgeries and other “trans care” for youth at a transgender clinic.
The call for an investigation is Gov. Bill Lee’s response to the explosive videos uncovered by The Daily Wire commentator Matt Walsh, which exposed Vanderbilt University Medical Center (VUMC) promoting “gender transition” for minors as a “huge money maker” and VUMC officials declaring that anyone who objects to participating in the LGBT agenda should face punishment.
“The ‘pediatric transgender clinic’ at Vanderbilt University Medical Center raises serious moral, ethical and legal concerns,” Lee told The Daily Wire. “We should not allow permanent, life-altering decisions that hurt children or policies that suppress religious liberties, all for the purpose of financial gain. We have to protect Tennessee children, and this warrants a thorough investigation.”
On Wednesday, the hospital released a statement addressing the allegations and pending investigation.
READ: Explosive report reveals Vanderbilt promoted transgender surgeries to make ‘huge money’
“Vanderbilt University Medical Center is now the subject of social media posts and a video that misrepresent facts about the care the Medical Center provides to transgender patients,” the statement reads. “VUMC requires parental consent to treat a minor patient who is to be seen for issues related to transgender care, and never refuses parental involvement in the care of transgender youth who are under age 18.”
“Our policies allow employees to decline to participate in care they find morally objectionable, and do not permit discrimination against employees who choose to do so. This includes employees whose personal or religious beliefs do not support gender-affirming care for transgender persons.”
“The Trans Buddy program mentioned in the video has received national acclaim,” the statement concludes. “Its purpose is to provide peer volunteers who support persons who are seeking highly personal care in an unfamiliar environment, and who may have been refused medical services in the past or avoided seeking them out of fear of being met with hostility.”
Despite the claims that all the grounds for investigation are false, VUMC has deleted the entire transgender clinic website.
Following the videos and report from Walsh, Republicans across the state have publicly supported the investigation of the clinic’s practices.
U.S. Rep. William Lamberth said on Wednesday that he is “deeply troubled” by the discoveries and that Gov. Lee “is right to call for an investigation and we will support that investigation and we will support that investigation 100%. This type of child mutilation should be illegal and soon will be in [Tennessee].”
“We are shocked by what we have seen in these videos,” posted U.S. Senator Marsha Blackburn. “We would hope that VUMC would make better decisions. There is nothing healthy about mutilating the bodies of minor children. We need an investigation into VUMC putting profits ahead of children immediately.”
RELATED: ‘It almost killed me’: Ex-trans teen slams ‘gender transitioning’ in powerful speech
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U.S. Rep. Chuck Fleischmann also responded to the situation on Wednesday, calling the news “incredibly disheartening and completely unacceptable.”
“Tennessee children deserve better than what’s happening at VUMC,” he wrote. “I stand alongside Governor @BillLeeTN in demanding a thorough investigation.”
During an interview with Tucker Carlson, Walsh emphasized the reality that VUMC is not the only hospital harming children to advance the LGBT agenda.
“They perform double mastectomies on minor girls. They chemically castrate children,” Walsh said. “That’s happening all across the country in every single state.”