Below are the full remarks CFC President Jonathan Keller composed for the “Do No Harm” Rally on the steps of the Supreme Court of the United States (SCOTUS) on Wednesday, December 4.
“Good morning. My name is Jonathan Keller, and I’m the President of California Family Council. I’m here today on behalf of families across the Golden State and our entire nation. I traveled from California to be here because what happens in this building will affect every child, every family, and every state in America.
The question before the Supreme Court is monumentally simple yet profound: Do states have the right to protect children from experimental medical procedures that can permanently alter their bodies, destroy their fertility, and devastate their futures? The answer must be yes.
We gather on these historic steps because every child deserves to be protected from harm. That’s not a conservative value or a liberal value – it’s a human value. And that’s exactly what Tennessee’s law does: it protects vulnerable children from dangerous, life-altering procedures that can never be undone. Let me repeat that: these procedures can never be undone.
The medical profession has a sacred duty to promote health and human flourishing. Instead, we’re witnessing the wholesale abandonment of the most fundamental principle of medicine: “First, do no harm.” Puberty-blocking drugs, cross-sex hormones, and radical surgeries often inflict irreversible damage on children. Even worse, they have no proven long-term benefits.
Today’s case isn’t about discrimination. It’s about protecting children from experimental procedures that can leave them sterile, stunt their brain development, and turn them into lifelong medical patients. No one – not parents, not doctors, not the government – has the right to inflict these harms on children who cannot possibly understand the lifelong consequences of these decisions.
The science is clear, and the world is watching. Sweden, England, and Finland – nations that once championed these procedures – have now changed course. Why? Because after reviewing the available studies, they found no reliable scientific evidence that these procedures improve mental health. In fact, England’s National Health Service concluded that all claimed benefits were based on “very low quality” evidence. Let that sink in: we are permanently altering children’s bodies based on evidence so poor it wouldn’t pass muster for any other medical procedure.
But what we do know is crucial: The American Psychological Association itself acknowledges that the vast majority of children will naturally resolve their gender dysphoria as they mature. By rushing to medicalize their confusion, we’re not helping these precious young people – we’re trapping them in distress that they would likely overcome naturally with proper support and counseling.
More and more brave detransitioners are speaking out, wishing someone had prevented doctors from pressuring them into these irreversible procedures as minors. They’re begging us – pleading with us – to protect today’s children from enduring what they suffered. Their bodies have been irreversibly altered. Their fertility has been stolen. Their trust has been betrayed by the very medical establishment that was supposed to protect them.
It is shameful that some in power would sacrifice children’s health and futures on the altar of radical gender ideology. Our children are not experiments. They’re not political pawns. And they’re certainly not lifelong profit centers for a medical industry willing to sterilize and surgically alter healthy young bodies.
The federal government is ignoring and even suppressing mounting scientific evidence. Even as the rest of the world reverses course to protect children, the Biden administration is pushing to expand these dangerous procedures. Shockingly, they’ve even been caught secretly pressuring medical organizations to lower age limits for these irreversible interventions!
Children deserve medical care rooted in science and biology, not ideology. Like similar protections in 25 other states, Tennessee’s law affirms this fundamental truth. Children deserve time to grow into comfort with their bodies and true identities. They deserve protection from those who would exploit their temporary struggles for profit or political gain.
Every child experiencing distress deserves love, support, and medical care rooted in biological reality. They deserve comprehensive healing and counseling – not a fast track to permanent medical dependency. They deserve to know the truth about their bodies and to have time to grow into comfort with their natural, healthy selves.
I implore the Supreme Court to uphold Tennessee’s law. Every state has the right—indeed, it is their moral obligation—to protect children from these devastating, life-altering procedures. The stakes couldn’t be higher. We’re not just fighting for Tennessee’s children—we’re fighting for every child in America who deserves the chance to grow up without being subjected to these experimental procedures.
As the justices deliberate this case, I urge them to do three things. Sincerely listen to the growing chorus of regret from those who were rushed into these procedures as minors. Carefully weigh the mounting international evidence showing these procedures cause devastating harm. And faithfully uphold the fundamental right of states to protect their most vulnerable citizens from medical experimentation.
Let history record that when faced with this crucial decision, America chose to protect its children. That when confronted with the choice between ideology and evidence, we chose evidence. That when pressed to decide between profits and protection, we chose to save our children.
The eyes of the world are upon us. The futures of countless children hang in the balance. May God grant wisdom to our justices, and may they have the courage to stand for truth.
Thank you, and God bless America.”
