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Oregon. 15 year olds can now get govt funded sex change surgery without parental permission



The list of things 15-year-olds are not legally allowed to do in Oregon is long: Drive, smoke, donate blood, get a tattoo -- even go to a tanning bed.

But, under a first-in-the-nation policy quietly enacted in January that many parents are only now finding out about, 15-year-olds are now allowed to get a sex-change operation. Many residents are stunned to learn they can do it without parental notification -- and the state will even pay for it through its Medicaid program, the Oregon Health Plan.

"It is trespassing on the hearts, the minds, the bodies of our children," said Lori Porter of Parents' Rights in Education. "They're our children. And for a decision, a life-altering decision like that to be done unbeknownst to a parent or guardian, it's mindboggling."

In a statement, Oregon Health Authority spokeswoman Susan Wickstrom explained it this way: "Age of medical consent varies by state. Oregon law -- which applies to both Medicaid and non-Medicaid Oregonians -- states that the age of medical consent is 15."

While 15 is the medical age of consent in the state, the decision to cover sex-change operations specifically was made by the Health Evidence Review Commission (HERC).

Members are appointed by the governor and paid by the state of Oregon. With no public debate, HERC changed its policy to include cross-sex hormone therapy, puberty-suppressing drugs and gender-reassignment surgery as covered treatments for people with gender dysphoria, formally known as gender identity disorder.

HERC officials refused repeated requests by Fox News for an interview and even gave Fox News inaccurate information about the medical director's work schedule.

Oregon Health Authority officials directed Fox News to their website. It shows transgender policy was discussed at four meetings in 2014. It was passed without any opposition or even discussion about teenagers' new access to undergoing a sex change.

Gender dysphoria is classified by the American Psychiatric Association as a mental disorder in which a person identifies as the sex opposite of his or her birth. It is rare, affecting one out of every 20,000 males and one out of every 50,000 females.

According to a 2008 study published in the Journal of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, "most children with gender dysphoria will not remain gender dysphoric after puberty."

Dr. Paul McHugh, who led the Johns Hopkins Psychiatry Department and still practices, said Oregon's policy amounts to child abuse. "We have a very radical and even mutilating treatment being offered to children without any evidence that the long-term outcome of this would be good," McHugh said.

Dr. Jack Drescher, a member of the APA who worked on the Sexual and Gender Identity Disorders Work Group, says treatment for gender dysphoria has received a lot more attention in recent years. He said this year New York changed its policy to cover cross-sex hormone drugs and sex-reassignment surgery for Medicaid recipients who are at least 18 years old. He thinks Oregon is offering the treatment too early.

"Children age 15 may not fully understand all the consequences of the procedures they are undergoing," he said.

Jenn Burleton disagrees. She underwent a sex-reassignment surgery and started the Portland non-profit group TransActive. She said requiring parental consent would lead to more suffering and teen suicide attempts.

"Parents may not be supportive," Burleton said. "They may not be in an environment where they feel the parent will affirm their identity, this may have been going on for years."

The science is unsettled. A 2010 Murad study concluded "very low quality evidence suggests sex reassignment ... improves gender dysphoria and overall quality of life." The authors admitted the evidence was "sparse and inconclusive."

Lisa Maloney, a parent and Scappoose, Ore., School Board member, is outraged.

"To know that taxpayers are now on the hook for that, that a child can do that without their parent's knowledge or information or consent, parents have absolutely no say, that's appalling," Maloney said.

The Oregon Health Authority could not say how many Medicaid recipients have been treated for gender dysphoria since the new policy took effect in January. Oregon has 935,000 people enrolled in the Oregon Health Plan. HERC assumes between 14 and 112 of them may be gender dysphoric. It estimates the total cost of adding cross-sex hormone therapy, puberty-suppressing drugs and sex reassignment surgeries to the coverage will be no more than $150,000 per year.

But HERC also believes the state will save money due to fewer suicide attempts. It estimates there will be one less suicide attempt per year. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimates the average cost per suicide attempt in the U.S. is $7,234.

But Dr. McHugh says a sex-change operation, especially for young people with gender dysphoria, is never appropriate.

"We can help them if we begin to explore with them and their families what they're fearing about development, what they're fearing about being a young boy, a young adolescent appropriate to themselves."
 
It won't be long before it will just be a standard part of entering high school. Asking them which gender they would prefer then taking care of it between 8th and 9th grade. Easy peasy.
 
It won't be long before it will just be a standard part of entering high school. Asking them which gender they would prefer then taking care of it between 8th and 9th grade. Easy peasy.

they will call it a vaccination. so they have a no fault system for litigating "vaccine/srs" injury claims
 
I read the other day that 6th graders in Seattle (or maybe just a specific seattle school, I can't remember) are able to get those intrauterine devices without their parents knowledge. That also seems wrong to me. And the whole ability to get an abortion without parental consent for anybody under 18. Tattoos and piercings are off limits, but go ahead and get an abortion!
 
It won't be long before it will just be a standard part of entering high school. Asking them which gender they would prefer then taking care of it between 8th and 9th grade. Easy peasy.

the king of slippery-slopes.
 
Yeah, can't say I like that at all. Especially without parental consent.

I actually agree. This feels foolish. This is a life altering surgery here, and they're not even 18.

I don't even agree with people getting married until they're at least 24, and that's something you can change relatively easily.
 
I read the other day that 6th graders in Seattle (or maybe just a specific seattle school, I can't remember) are able to get those intrauterine devices without their parents knowledge. That also seems wrong to me. And the whole ability to get an abortion without parental consent for anybody under 18. Tattoos and piercings are off limits, but go ahead and get an abortion!

It's because legal, accessible abortion actually reduces abortion rates. Look at pretty much every study on this ever.

If a woman doesn't want a kid, she'll find a way to get rid of it-- do you want her dying from sustaining infection, or do you want her not having to lose her life while attempting to abort her child?

---

I'll never understand people wanting legal policies to perfectly contour their personal beliefs. I personally would never want to abort my child (as in I don't find there to be a difference between fetus and child), don't drink alcohol, don't use any sort of drug, yet I manage to happily live in a society where all things are widely practised and/or available. At the end of the day you're the one responsible for raising your child, and telling her why IUDs in grade 6 are a bad idea-- if you're scared that government/societal mandates will supersede your parenting abilities, it's more telling of your parenting abilities than the mandates themselves.

For the record: I think IUDs in grade 6 is absolutely nuts, but mostly from a health perspective. That simply cannot be good for a growing child's reproductive physiology.
 
Maybe the government should stop taking away parents abilities to parent. By allowing kids to do things without parental consent, that's what they're doing.

Look, I think abortion is wrong. I view it as murder. With that said, I understand the viewpoint of those who don't, and I still disagree with the parental consent part. Kids should be going to their parents for help, we can't be expecting a 15 year old kid to be making these decisions! That's nuts.
 
It's because legal, accessible abortion actually reduces abortion rates. Look at pretty much every study on this ever.

If a woman doesn't want a kid, she'll find a way to get rid of it-- do you want her dying from sustaining infection, or do you want her not having to lose her life while attempting to abort her child?

---

I'll never understand people wanting legal policies to perfectly contour their personal beliefs. I personally would never want to abort my child (as in I don't find there to be a difference between fetus and child), don't drink alcohol, don't use any sort of drug, yet I manage to happily live in a society where all things are widely practised and/or available. At the end of the day you're the one responsible for raising your child, and telling her why IUDs in grade 6 are a bad idea-- if you're scared that government/societal mandates will supersede your parenting abilities, it's more telling of your parenting abilities than the mandates themselves.

For the record: I think IUDs in grade 6 is absolutely nuts, but mostly from a health perspective. That simply cannot be good for a growing child's reproductive physiology.


I want them to make the decision "to want or not want a baby" in the BEDROOM. not in an abortion clinic.
 
I want them to make the decision to want or not want a baby in the BEDROOM. not in an abortion clinic.

I want to throw it at Shakira once in a while.

I want to eat Trix all day and never gain weight.

I want to socialize healthcare so we're on track with what the rest of the developed world has.

I want to move to Alaska, so I don't have to deal with 6 months of near 100 degree days.

I want you to hold yourself to either standard you've set for yourself(leaving, or not trolling)

I'm not getting any of that, so let's just throw the "want" idea out the window.
 
I want to throw it at Shakira once in a while.

I want to eat Trix all day and never gain weight.

I want to socialize healthcare so we're on track with what the rest of the developed world has.

I want to move to Alaska, so I don't have to deal with 6 months of near 100 degree days.

I want you to hold yourself to either standard you've set for yourself(leaving, or not trolling)

I'm not getting any of that, so let's just throw the "want" idea out the window.


wow typical liberal thing. dont deflect

address the abortion issue, the decision to have a baby or not is done in the bedroom. not in an abortion clinic.


go ahead call me a racist.

especially if tax payers have to pay for murder. cus you fail to take responsibilty for your choice to have(unsafe) sex
 
Maybe the government should stop taking away parents abilities to parent. By allowing kids to do things without parental consent, that's what they're doing.

Look, I think abortion is wrong. I view it as murder. With that said, I understand the viewpoint of those who don't, and I still disagree with the parental consent part. Kids should be going to their parents for help, we can't be expecting a 15 year old kid to be making these decisions! That's nuts.

In the quote above it says the kid can get the surgery without consent and without cost by using medicaid. Do you think your 15yo could apply for medicaid without you catching wind of it? I doubt it. It'd probably be more obvious they were trying to get approved for medicaid than that they were transgender.

"Daddy, can I get a copy of you tax returns and W-2s for the last three years?"
 
It's because legal, accessible abortion actually reduces abortion rates. Look at pretty much every study on this ever.

If a woman doesn't want a kid, she'll find a way to get rid of it-- do you want her dying from sustaining infection, or do you want her not having to lose her life while attempting to abort her child?

---

I'll never understand people wanting legal policies to perfectly contour their personal beliefs. I personally would never want to abort my child (as in I don't find there to be a difference between fetus and child), don't drink alcohol, don't use any sort of drug, yet I manage to happily live in a society where all things are widely practised and/or available. At the end of the day you're the one responsible for raising your child, and telling her why IUDs in grade 6 are a bad idea-- if you're scared that government/societal mandates will supersede your parenting abilities, it's more telling of your parenting abilities than the mandates themselves.

For the record: I think IUDs in grade 6 is absolutely nuts, but mostly from a health perspective. That simply cannot be good for a growing child's reproductive physiology.

I want her dying from murder procedure that increase mother death rate by 50%. Most abortion killers even die after surgery by infectious disease or suicide or early onset cancer.
 
It's because legal, accessible abortion actually reduces abortion rates. Look at pretty much every study on this ever.

If a woman doesn't want a kid, she'll find a way to get rid of it-- do you want her dying from sustaining infection, or do you want her not having to lose her life while attempting to abort her child?

---

I'll never understand people wanting legal policies to perfectly contour their personal beliefs. I personally would never want to abort my child (as in I don't find there to be a difference between fetus and child), don't drink alcohol, don't use any sort of drug, yet I manage to happily live in a society where all things are widely practised and/or available. At the end of the day you're the one responsible for raising your child, and telling her why IUDs in grade 6 are a bad idea-- if you're scared that government/societal mandates will supersede your parenting abilities, it's more telling of your parenting abilities than the mandates themselves.

For the record: I think IUDs in grade 6 is absolutely nuts, but mostly from a health perspective. That simply cannot be good for a growing child's reproductive physiology.

Lol good parenting. Thats why liberals mandate all sort of so called good parenting laws. So many contradictions here. Typical for liberals. Dont outlaw the weed outlaw the big gulp in New York. Weed dont hurt big gulp does.
 
I was under the impression Log was being sarcastic, but what do I know.

Dalamon is sarcastically and hyperbolically challenged. It's a result of buying every piece of liberal everything ever spewed. You have to learn to permanently block reality to so blindly believe everything from one ideology like that.
 
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