The Tennessee-based Vanderbilt University Medical Center has suspended all permanent transgender surgeries for minors following concerns from Republican lawmakers about the hospital's ethics.
"On September 6, 2022, WPATH published a new version of its recommendations to health care professionals for treatment of transgender persons, known as SOC-8," the university wrote in a letter to lawmakers.
"In light of these new recommendations, and as part of completing our internal clinical review of SOC-8 guidance in patients under 18, we will be seeking advice from local and national clinical experts," the letter continued. "We are pausing gender affirmation surgeries on patients under age 18 while we complete this review, which may take several months."
Please see Vanderbilt Medical’s response to the @tnhousegop.
— Rep. Jason Zachary (@JasonZacharyTN) October 7, 2022
VUMC has agreed to pause gender transition surgeries on minors as well as honor religious objectors. https://t.co/xXlbSaAOMS pic.twitter.com/4G8laJfQfY
Last month, a report by conservative activist Matt Walsh of The Daily Wire claimed that VUMC "drugs, chemically castrates and performs double mastectomies on minors."
In response to the letter, Tennessee lawmakers, including Republican Tennessee Gov. Bill Lee, Sen. Marsha Blackburn, R-Tenn., and others, called for an investigation into the clinic.
According to Fox News, the VUMC denied any wrongdoing and maintained that it carries out all of its care "in compliance with state law and in line with professional practice standards." Additionally, Vanderbilt University denied involvement with the international medical center.
Further, a series of videos featuring Vanderbilt staff was released in September, highlighting VUMC's best practices for children and adults.
In a 2018 video, assistant professor Dr. Shayne Taylor can be heard discussing "top surgery," which involves the augmentation or removal of breast tissue.
"Some of our VUMC financial folks in October of 2016 put down some costs of how much money we think each patient would bring in. And this is only including top surgery, this isn't including any bottom surgery, and it's a lot of money," Taylor said in the video.
On Sunday, Walsh announced that he will lead a rally at the state capitol in Nashville later this month to call for an end to "child mutilation" practices.
"Vanderbilt pausing its child mutilation procedures is a big victory, but the battle isn't close to over," he tweeted.
"Join us on October 21 as we fight to permanently ban this butchery everywhere in Tennessee."
Vanderbilt pausing its child mutilation procedures is a big victory but the battle isn’t close to over. Join us on October 21 as we fight to permanently ban this butchery everywhere in Tennessee. pic.twitter.com/WGioxZbrlY
— Matt Walsh (@MattWalshBlog) October 9, 2022
Photo courtesy: ©Getty Images/Elizabeth Lara
Milton Quintanilla is a freelance writer and content creator. He is a contributing writer for CrosswalkHeadlines and the host of the For Your Soul Podcast, a podcast devoted to sound doctrine and biblical truth. He holds a Masters of Divinity from Alliance Theological Seminary.
