Last month, the Maryland House of Delegates heard House Bill 722, which would close the loophole in current Maryland law that allows certain 16- and 17-year-olds to consent to medication, including medication for gender transition, without their parent’s knowledge or consent. It is a small and narrowly focused bill that focuses on the rights of parents to know if their children are taking potentially harmful puberty blockers and cross-sex hormones. A recent Fox45 poll showed that 99% of Marylanders believe there should be parental consent in the transitioning of minor children. The liberal leadership in Annapolis has become so extreme they continue to make policies to cut parents out of their children’s lives and medical decisions.
The use of puberty blockers to stop the natural biological process of puberty for young children has become an increasingly controversial off-label use of these drugs. In July of 2022, the FDA slapped a warning on them stating that they can cause brain swelling and vision loss. The treatment for gender dysphoria has come under fire in recent months as peer-reviewed research continues to be published, calling into question the risks versus benefits for children.
In January of this year, The British Medical Journal on Child and Adolescent Mental Health published a study that stated unequivocally that “Clinical gender dysphoria does not appear to be predictive of all-cause nor suicide mortality when psychiatric treatment history is accounted for.” This finding challenges the very foundation on which the existing protocols for treating children with gender dysphoria were established. In other words, treating underlying mental health issues without life-changing drugs or permanent surgeries will mitigate risks associated with gender dysphoria.
In Annapolis, the liberal narrative emphasizes the importance of supporting individuals with gender dysphoria and providing medication to help prevent suicide among these children. They frequently reference studies indicating that young individuals experiencing gender dysphoria face a higher suicide risk, using this to support the notion of chemically castrating these minors. However, many of these young people have serious pre-existing mental health comorbidities that are the real culprits of their increased risk.
James Cantor, a Toronto, Canada, based psychologist, has stated that the American Academy of Pediatrics is out of line with almost all other organizations in their recommendation of “gender-affirmation” exclusively. Finland and Sweden have reversed course on their policies around transitioning children. Sweden has a National Healthcare system that has collected robust data on the impacts of transitions. The study, released in 2011, concluded that “persons with transsexualism, after sex reassignment, have considerably higher risks for mortality, suicidal behaviour, and psychiatric morbidity than the general population.”
In 2021, Senate Bill 41 passed the House along an almost party-line vote, aside from disgraced former Del. Rick Impallaria, who voted with the Democrats to allow children as young as 12 to have access to mental health care without their parent’s knowledge or consent. Buried in that bill was an exception that allowed for medication to be prescribed to minors 16 and above without parental knowledge or consent. This set the stage for trans-identifying youth in Maryland to gain access to these treatments unbeknownst to their parents if they meet certain criteria — including having a child, being married, or being self-supporting and not living with their parents — necessitating this year’s bi-partisan HB 722, which I sponsored. This set the stage for trans-identifying youth in Maryland to gain access to these treatments unbeknownst to their parents, necessitating this year’s bi-partisan HB 722, which I sponsored.
When Del. Brian Chisholm of Anne Arundel County directly questioned the opposition to the bill about their stance on parental rights in these matters, they evaded the question for several minutes before finally stating support for the existing law. A Democrat attempted to redirect the conversation and instead showed the dire need for the bill. She stated: “The law says, as I recall it, that in instances where the child is not being supported by the parent, those are instances where there might be exceptions, but otherwise, the parent is always involved in these decisions.”
Annapolis liberals are now openly advocating against the necessity of parental consent in children’s health care decisions. Rather than seeking parents’ input, they promote adherence to transgender political ideology. This is despite mounting global evidence of the detrimental impact these practices have on children, which is leading to their rejection worldwide. Throughout history, parents have been the greatest advocates for their children, protecting them from the harms of the world and from junk medicine. No one cares for children more than their own parents. Today, transgender advocates in Annapolis are fighting tooth and nail to take that stopgap away, leaving Maryland children vulnerable to the whims of ever-changing political ideology.
It is time for Maryland to stop the constant degradation of parent’s most fundamental right: deciding what is in the best interest of their children. The Health and Government Operations Committee in the Maryland House of Delegates should immediately pass HB 722 and protect Maryland children, not misguided special interest groups.
Lauren Arikan (lauren.arikan@house.state.md.us) is a Republican delegate, representing District 7B in Harford County.
Editor’s note: This op-ed has been updated to clarify a minor’s eligibility for certain medications.
