The legal proceedings regarding Keira Bell are forcing the reluctant news media to begin discussing this serious issue regarding a vulnerable population of teenage girls being cajoled into harsh medical treatment for undiagnosed gender dysphoria. The silence of the news media has found synergy with bad science and dangerous medical practices. Here’s an excerpt from Quillette article titled “Like It Or Not, Keira Bell Has Opened Up a Real Conversation About Gender Dysphoria“:
The policy reckoning we are now beginning to observe has been a long time coming. And Ms. Bell’s role is an important one, as trans activists have long sought to discredit or ignore the growing ranks of desisters—those, such as Ms. Bell, who once presented sincerely as trans, but later reverted to an identity consistent with their real biological sex. Even media that formerly had toed the progressive line on the issue of gender dysphoria are now finding the courage to run articles about vulnerable girls—many of them autistic, depressed, or socially insecure—who suffer regret after a period of trans self-identification.
In medicine, the patient controls decisions and the decision-making process. She may be advised by he practitioner, she may look elsewhere for advice or input, but decisions are hers. To protect them from harm, parents and guardians make decisions for a minor on her behalf. In the event the parent or guardians are not competent to make these decisions, we accept that government, through least-intrusive-possible legislation enforced through courts, may act to defend her from harm.
There is no role for ideologues in medical decisions about patient care. There is little role for government except as a last resort. Puberty blockers are useful and believed benign when treating precocious puberty. There is no study of their use to treat perceived gender dysphoria. There are studies about hormones – estrogen and testosterone – used to treat gender dysphoria; when I practiced medicine, I would never prescribe them to someone under the age of 16 without parental consent, and under 18 would be reluctant. Effects are irreversible. Gender-reassignment surgery is, in my opinion, unethical on a patient younger than sixteen without parental/guardian’s consent, and questionable on a patient younger than eighteen. Even in a female the prefrontal cortex is not finished maturing until at least 22.