By Susan Jones | February 25, 2021 | 11:27am EST
Dr. Rachel Levine is an American pediatrician who served as Secretary of the Pennsylvania Department of Health from 2017 to 2021 and is now nominated to serve as President Biden’s assistant HHS secretary. (Photo: Screen capture)
(CNSNews.com) – Unafraid to address the transgender issue staring lawmakers in the face, Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) on Thursday asked Dr. Rachel Levine (nee Richard) if she believes “minors are capable of making such a life-changing decision as changing one’s sex.”
Levine, President Biden’s nominee for assistant secretary of health, now lives as a woman.
Twice, Levine gave Sen. Paul the same rehearsed, non-answer to his question:
Well, Senator, thank you for your interest in this question. Transgender medicine is a very complex and nuanced field. We have robust research and standards of care that have been developed, and if I am fortunate enough to be confirmed as the assistant secretary of health, I will look forward to working with you and your office and coming to your office and discussing the particulars of the standards of care for transgender medicine.
Paul followed up: “The specific question was about minors. Let’s be a little more specific, since you evaded the question.
“Do you support the government intervening to override the parent’s consent to give a child puberty blockers, cross-sex hormones, and/or amputation surgery of breasts and genitalia? You have said that you’re willing to accelerate the protocols for street kids.
“I’m alarmed that poor kids with no parents who are homeless and distraught — you would just go through this and allow this to happen to a minor.”
Paul mentioned the case of gender-confused girl, now 23, who ended up transitioning to the opposite sex and lived to regret it.
“What I am alarmed at is that you’re not willing to say, absolutely, minors shouldn’t be making decisions to amputate their breast or to amputate their genitalia…Will you make a more firm decision on whether or not minors should be involved in these decisions?” Paul asked Levine, a former practicing pediatrician.
“Senator, transgender medicine is a very complex and nuanced field,” Levine repeated, giving almost the exact same answer he gave before.
“Let it go into the record that the witness refused to answer the questions,” Paul said.
Paul noted that for most of the history of medicine, minors couldn’t even get a cut sewn up in the emergency room without parental permission. “But you’re willing to let a minor take things that prevent their puberty. Do you think they get that back?” Paul asked.
Paul also noted that the drugs being used in gender transition are being used off-label. “I find it ironic that the left that went nuts over hydroxychloroquine being used possibly for COVID are not alarmed that these hormones are being used off label.
“There’s no long-term studies. We don’t know what happens to them. We do know that there are dozens and dozens of people who have been through this who regret that this happened, that a permanent change happened to them.”
Levine currently serves as Pennsylvania’s top health official.