SACRAMENTO – Without hesitation or debate, the California Assembly voted overwhelmingly today to set up a fund using tax-payer dollars to give minors and adults cross-sex hormones and surgeries that will permanently destroy their reproductive systems.
According to author Assemblyman Miguel Santiago (D) Los Angeles, AB 2218 establishes an “LGBT Transgender Wellness Fund,” to provide grants to nonprofits, hospitals, health care clinics (like Planned Parenthood), and other medical providers that supply puberty blockers and cross-sex hormones for minors, as well as cross-sex hormones and “sex-change” operations for adults. Originally the bill asked for $15 million to start the fund, but that amount was recently removed from the bill text. Now the exact amount added to the fund will be decided by the legislature at a later date.
According to Dr. Quentin Van Meter, a board-certified pediatric endocrinologist who testified against AB 2218 in the Assembly Health Committee, studies show children who are treated with cross-sex hormones for their gender confusion have “significant mental health issues,” that remain even after hormone therapy. Van Meter warned legislators that the state would be sued in the coming years for funding transgender affirming treatments for troubled and vulnerable children because they destroy healthy body tissue, sterilize the recipient, and cause irreversible damage. (Read his opposition letter here)
Read additional AB 2218 opposition letters from medical professionals below:
