Oregon allowing 15-year-olds to get state-subsidized sex-change operations

[Robby999 1,024]

I do not see how they can think that a 15 year old can make a rational decision that is going to effect them for the rest of their life. I think they are giving way too much leeway to the kids by bypassing the parents in these cases.

The list of things 15-year-olds are not legally allowed to do in Oregon is long: Drive, smoke, donate blood, get a tattoo -- even go to a tanning bed.

But, under a first-in-the-nation policy quietly enacted in January that many parents are only now finding out about, 15-year-olds are now allowed to get a sex-change operation. Many residents are stunned to learn they can do it without parental notification -- and the state will even pay for it through its Medicaid program, the Oregon Health Plan.

"It is trespassing on the hearts, the minds, the bodies of our children," said Lori Porter of Parents' Rights in Education. "They're our children. And for a decision, a life-altering decision like that to be done unbeknownst to a parent or guardian, it's mindboggling."

In a statement, Oregon Health Authority spokeswoman Susan Wickstrom explained it this way: "Age of medical consent varies by state. Oregon law -- which applies to both Medicaid and non-Medicaid Oregonians -- states that the age of medical consent is 15."

While 15 is the medical age of consent in the state, the decision to cover sex-change operations specifically was made by the Health Evidence Review Commission (HERC).

Members are appointed by the governor and paid by the state of Oregon. With no public debate, HERC changed its policy to include cross-sex hormone therapy, puberty-suppressing drugs and gender-reassignment surgery as covered treatments for people with gender dysphoria, formally known as gender identity disorder.

HERC officials refused repeated requests by Fox News for an interview and even gave Fox News inaccurate information about the medical director's work schedule.

Oregon Health Authority officials directed Fox News to their website. It shows transgender policy was discussed at four meetings in 2014. It was passed without any opposition or even discussion about teenagers' new access to undergoing a sex change.

Gender dysphoria is classified by the American Psychiatric Association as a mental disorder in which a person identifies as the sex opposite of his or her birth. It is rare, affecting one out of every 20,000 males and one out of every 50,000 females.

According to a 2008 study published in the Journal of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, "most children with gender dysphoria will not remain gender dysphoric after puberty."

Dr. Paul McHugh, who led the Johns Hopkins Psychiatry Department and still practices, said Oregon's policy amounts to child abuse. "We have a very radical and even mutilating treatment being offered to children without any evidence that the long-term outcome of this would be good," McHugh said.

Dr. Jack Drescher, a member of the APA who worked on the Sexual and Gender Identity Disorders Work Group, says treatment for gender dysphoria has received a lot more attention in recent years. He said this year New York changed its policy to cover cross-sex hormone drugs and sex-reassignment surgery for Medicaid recipients who are at least 18 years old. He thinks Oregon is offering the treatment too early.

"Children age 15 may not fully understand all the consequences of the procedures they are undergoing," he said.

Jenn Burleton disagrees. She underwent a sex-reassignment surgery and started the Portland non-profit group TransActive. She said requiring parental consent would lead to more suffering and teen suicide attempts.

"Parents may not be supportive," Burleton said. "They may not be in an environment where they feel the parent will affirm their identity, this may have been going on for years."

The science is unsettled. A 2010 Murad study concluded "very low quality evidence suggests sex reassignment ... improves gender dysphoria and overall quality of life." The authors admitted the evidence was "sparse and inconclusive."

Lisa Maloney, a parent and Scappoose, Ore., School Board member, is outraged.

"To know that taxpayers are now on the hook for that, that a child can do that without their parent's knowledge or information or consent, parents have absolutely no say, that's appalling," Maloney said.

The Oregon Health Authority could not say how many Medicaid recipients have been treated for gender dysphoria since the new policy took effect in January. Oregon has 935,000 people enrolled in the Oregon Health Plan. HERC assumes between 14 and 112 of them may be gender dysphoric. It estimates the total cost of adding cross-sex hormone therapy, puberty-suppressing drugs and sex reassignment surgeries to the coverage will be no more than $150,000 per year.

But HERC also believes the state will save money due to fewer suicide attempts. It estimates there will be one less suicide attempt per year. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimates the average cost per suicide attempt in the U.S. is $7,234.

But Dr. McHugh says a sex-change operation, especially for young people with gender dysphoria, is never appropriate.

"We can help them if we begin to explore with them and their families what they're fearing about development, what they're fearing about being a young boy, a young adolescent appropriate to themselves."

http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2015/07/09/oregon-allowing-15-year-olds-to-get-state-subsidized-sex-change-operations/?intcmp=latestnews

[Sousuke 1,214]

Biologically its past puberty so I sort of get it.

[Not a Tailor 1,370]

Honestly, this is a good thing.

[GandD 5,966]

Title edited to match article

[Darnell 8,478]

ok -i read the whole thing - noting no mention of transracial qualifications or leanings. that's a relief, really !

[spookyturtle 9,465]

Honestly, this is a good thing.

Wonderful for a child that can't drive or sign a legally binding contract.

[Not a Tailor 1,370]

Wonderful for a child that can't drive or sign a legally binding contract.

Wonderful for a child who is navigating puberty (which is messy for transgendered children and can be seriously traumatic) and dating and would like to be healed from a surgery that takes weeks or even months to recover from before college.

How many people have you known who have gone through a sex change? Because I've known several, all over the world, and not a single doctor--even the weird Serbian doctors one of my friends ended up going to for financial reasons--let a person go through it without extensive screening to make sure this was what the person wanted. Sometimes months of it. All of them needed to be signed off on by their own psychologist AND a psychologist of the doctor's choosing.

It's not a choice anyone takes lightly, not the doctors and not the patients. It may not 'fix' dysphoria, but it normalizes social function. That's honestly what nearly all of the people I've known have been going for, not a fix of their dysphoria. Dysphoria is a lifelong battle, but normalizing social function takes away some of the triggers for dysphoric episodes, which makes a huge difference in quality of life.

Edited July 10, 2015 by Not a Tailor

[Robby999 1,024]

My 15 year old daughter has a hard time deciding what clothes to wear to school everyday, I wouldn't feel real comfortable with her having these options in her life at her age especially without parental consent requirements. Cross-dressing can be reversed by a trip to the closet, gender re-assignment surgery not so much so! Lots of teens in state custody now due to bad decision making skills, what makes them think that these possible transgender teens are any brighter?

Edited July 10, 2015 by Robby999

[Not a Tailor 1,370]

My 15 year old daughter has a hard time deciding what clothes to wear to school everyday, I wouldn't feel real comfortable with her having these options in her life at her age especially without parental consent requirements. Cross-dressing can be reversed by a trip to the closet, gender re-assignment surgery not so much so! Lots of teens in state custody now due to bad decision making skills, what makes them think gay teens are any brighter?

First off, a transgender teen is not necessarily a gay teen and very few gay teens are transgendered. These things are different.

Again, to get this surgery, you have to have counselling. A psychologist (usually two!) has to sign off that they believe, according to their expertise as practitioners of mental health, that the patient understands that this is a life altering surgery, that achieves some things and fails at others and that it is irreversible. I don't know many parents who are qualified to know whether or not their children are capable of understanding why their child just got grounded. I'd rather that these decisions about informed consent were being made by people who are qualified to make that call than by parents who can go 'We're too Christian for my child to be a #######.'

We can't even achieve parents not sending their children into reparative therapy. Decisions like this should be between a patient and their care team. Parents' morality shouldn't have any weight and parental permission laws are about parents being allowed to push their moral reasoning onto their children's medical care.

[Janelle2002 3,865]

Decisions like this should be reserved for when the child is an adult. This way they can solely make this decision on their own and it won't be mom and dad's fault when they decide later on they didn't like the decision they made.

[Not a Tailor 1,370]

Decisions like this should be reserved for when the child is an adult. This way they can solely make this decision on their own and it won't be mom and dad's fault when they decide later on they didn't like the decision they made.

Recovery from SRS takes months. Most young people cannot afford the time off work to recover once they're on their own. If you ask me, it's better for them to be able to get it done before others are depending on them and before they have to pay rent, school, food, bills, etc.

[Robby999 1,024]

Well, call me old fashioned but until they are 18 I am responsible for them legally. That being said, they are more than free to do whatever they want once they reach 18 and move out.

[Not a Tailor 1,370]

Well, call me old fashioned but until they are 18 I am responsible for them legally. That being said, they are more than free to do whatever they want once they reach 18 and move out.

So tell me.

Let's say we have a 15 year old girl with bipolar. Her parents are scientologists and do not believe in psychiatric medicines.

Should her parents have the right to prevent her from seeking treatment?

Speaking as someone who has several disorders (faulty connective tissue) that required a great deal of treatment in my teenage years and some of which was denied me due to my parents' decisions, it's impossible to afford the time off work, even with 'free' treatment, in adulthood to have those things dealt with. Sexual reassignment takes months of recovery time. When is an 18 year old, 19 year old, 20 year old, 21 year old supposed to find money, in today's economy, to take the time off?

[Robby999 1,024]

As long as her parents are responsible for her that is their choice, if she is being abused or neglected the doctors are required by law to report them. I have no right telling someone else how to raise their child. One of the biggest problems with our society now is government and so-called experts thinking they can be a better parent than the child's own parents. The government and "progressive thinkers" will not rest until they have completely eliminated the traditional family and replaced it with state sanctioned nannies/caretakers who are completely dependent on the government for everything from healthcare to food subsidies.

[spookyturtle 9,465]

Wonderful for a child who is navigating puberty (which is messy for transgendered children and can be seriously traumatic) and dating and would like to be healed from a surgery that takes weeks or even months to recover from before college.

How many people have you known who have gone through a sex change? Because I've known several, all over the world, and not a single doctor--even the weird Serbian doctors one of my friends ended up going to for financial reasons--let a person go through it without extensive screening to make sure this was what the person wanted. Sometimes months of it. All of them needed to be signed off on by their own psychologist AND a psychologist of the doctor's choosing.

It's not a choice anyone takes lightly, not the doctors and not the patients. It may not 'fix' dysphoria, but it normalizes social function. That's honestly what nearly all of the people I've known have been going for, not a fix of their dysphoria. Dysphoria is a lifelong battle, but normalizing social function takes away some of the triggers for dysphoric episodes, which makes a huge difference in quality of life.

I'll stand with my opinion that a 15 year old is not mature enough to make the decision. It might sound like a good idea today, but who knows in a few years. I don't know anyone personally who has had a sex change operation.