Republican Sen. Rand Paul spoke for conservative the nation over when he took President Joe Biden’s Health and Human Services Assistant Secretary nominee to task during a nomination hearing earlier in the week.
Biden’s nominee, Dr. Rachel Levine, is a transgender health official who was assigned male at birth and now claims to be female. Leine was a heal official in Pennsylvania, serving as the Pennsylvania physician general from 2015 to 2017, and has openly supported gender reassignment surgery.
Levine’s sentiments didn’t sit well with Paul, who took the official to task during the hearing:
“According to the WHO, gender mutilation is recognized internationally as a violation of human rights,” Paul said according to The Federalist. “American culture is now normalizing the idea that minors can be given hormones to prevent the biological development of their secondary sexual characteristics. … Do you believe that minors are capable of making such a life-changing decision as changing one’s sex?”
Levine gave a non-answer.
“Thank you for your interest in this question. Transgender medicine is a very complex and nuanced field,” Levine said. “If I am fortunate enough to be confirmed as the assistant secretary of health, I will look forward to working with you and your office.”
Paul tried again: “The specific question was about minors, let’s be a little more specific since you evaded the question,” Paul said. “Do you support the government intervening to override the parent’s consent to give a child puberty blockers, cross-sex hormones, and/or amputation surgery of breasts and genitalia? You have said that you’re willing to accelerate the protocols for street kids.”
The Kentucky senator spoke about the story of Keira Bell, who is a 23-year-old woman who read online at a young age about transsexuals and the details of that lifestyle, though that’s what she might be, went so far as to pursue the reassignment medicine, and now regrets her choices.
“She ended up getting these puberty blockers, cross-sex hormones, she had her breasts amputated,” Paul said, going on to cite Bell’s present anguish over her teenage decision: “‘The rest of my life will be negatively affected,’ she said.”
“What I am alarmed at is that you’re not willing to say absolutely minors shouldn’t be making decisions to amputate their breasts or to amputate their genitalia,” Paul said.
Levine again offered an unsatisfying non-answer, saying, “Senator, transgender medicine is a very complex and nuanced field.”
Paul didn’t back down, however. He finished his time during the hearing pointing to the double standard that Democrats are holding with their extreme outrage over the malaria medication hydroxychloroquine being used for the novel Wuhan coronavirus while actively promoting scientifically dubious treatments for minors with gender dysphoria.
“We wouldn’t let you have a cut sewn up in the ER, but you’re willing to let a minor take things that prevent their puberty and you think they get that back? You give a woman testosterone enough that she grows a beard. You think she’s going to go back looking like a woman when you stop the testosterone?” Paul said. “None of these drugs have been approved for this. They’re all being used off-label. I find it ironic that the left that went nuts over hydroxychloroquine being used possibly for COVID are not alarmed that these hormones are being used off-label. There are no long-term studies. We don’t know what happens to them.”
The senator from Kentucky took to task those who many Americans consider being lunatics, pursuing whatever flash-in-the-pan treatment happens across their path. The greater mission of the transgender movement appears to be an effort to do away with the intelligent design that created “them, man and woman.” Doing so would clear the way for communism, which is predicated on atheism, which is a lot smaller leap if things like gender identity are mush.
