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Alert! HB 2002-B is a destructive bill that creates government sanctioned secrecy between parent and child by providing abortions and “gender affirming” interference for children without a parent’s knowledge here in Oregon - compliments of the Oregon Democrat legislators.
The bill has generated much attention, both locally and nationally. And it has for good reason. HB 2002-B is the most extreme and partisan bill in our country. There are layers of unanswered questions created by this legislation, as well as terrible consequences that are ignored. Please read it, here.
This is a 46-page bill. The first 10 pages refer to abortions in stating that “Every individual has a fundamental right to make decisions about the individual’s reproductive health…to continue the individual’s pregnancy and give birth or to terminate the individual’s pregnancy.” (Page 2, lines 16-19). The word “every” exactly means “every” individual, regardless of age. A 10-year-old could, by herself, through resources at her school, get an abortion if this bill becomes law, and her parents would have no idea.
With this bill, a child of any age must provide written permission for a parent to know what reproductive health services are provided by a health care provider. Imagine, as a parent, you need written authorization from your child, the person you care for, to know they are about to make a life-altering decision by having an abortion; or secretly deciding to alter natural functions and processes of his/her body from irreversible drugs or surgeries to satisfy his/her gender identity based on immature beliefs planted into their impressionable minds.
Normally, if a child seeking an abortion without parental influence would set off alarm bells that she is being trafficked. Yet, there will be no such safeguards in place.
A child as young as 15 could also choose to make life-altering decisions to change his/her gender, paid for by the taxpayers – all without parental knowledge or participation.
It is being asserted by Democrat legislators that HB 2002-B comes as a response to Roe vs. Wade being overturned last year. They claim the overturn took away some abortion rights in Oregon and that HB 2002-B would restore those rights. Not true. Roe vs. Wade had no effect on Oregon’s abortion laws. Oregon already allows abortion all the way to birth. Oregon taxpayers even pay expenses for those seeking abortion here in Oregon whether they come from another state or another country. Furthermore, the bill seeks to conceal the birth of an infant. Babies who survive an attempted abortion are not getting protected. Polling shows that regardless of their position in the abortion debate, 80% of Oregonians support protecting them. At over forty pages long, HB 2002-B aims to expand access to both abortion and to gender-affirming care – all facilitated through schools’ Student Health Centers.
HB 2002-B requires written authorization from a child of any age before their parents can be notified about their child’s abortion or gender altering drugs or surgeries. This requires the child to have the wherewithal to ask that their guardian be included in medical discussions. With activist medical providers pushing transgender and abortion agendas without providing full disclosure of side effects or mental trauma to their patients, it is unlikely providers will explicitly ask a child for their thoughts on parental involvement, and parents should be involved anyway, no questions asked.
In other words, it becomes a state-sanctioned secret between parents and children, putting the state in charge of your children’s health care without your consent or knowledge. (Page 4, lines 39-42)
Altering our children’s biological sex
The science promoting the safety and effectiveness of gender altering care (which includes puberty blockers, cross-sex hormones, and surgeries that are used to “align” an individual with their new gender identity) has been under increased scrutiny in both America and abroad. Gender-affirming care is beginning to fall apart and is under question by scientists themselves. It is controversial and by no means settled.
Oregon Democrats, on the other hand, are choosing to remain willfully blind in their faith to the flawed science undergirding Oregon’s guidelines for gender-altering care and are even doubling down on these flawed guidelines with HB 2002-B. This prompts the question: What are Oregon’s Legislative Democrats more interested in – following science or an ideology?
The human brain is not fully developed until 25-years-old. The Oregon children targeted in HB 2002 do not have the mental capacity to understand the permanent nature of these decisions.
These kids simply do not understand that their awkwardness is fleeting because they do not have the wisdom that comes with growing up.
No child should feel alone or coerced by the government to choose a certain path.
Europe pulls back as the science behind the safety and effectiveness of gender-altering medical procedures is unsettled
Why are Oregon legislative Democrats doubling down on expanding access to gender-altering experimentation when the rest of the world is pulling back? There’s so much controversy behind the effectiveness and unknown long-term risks of these procedures. So much so that some U.S. states and countries have urged caution or altogether restricted access to gender-affirming care for minors.
Indeed, the science behind gender-affirming care is not settled. Oregon legislative Democrats are led by activism and refuse to acknowledge the flaws of the science of sex-altering medical procedures. They need to be willing to debate these flaws without the conversation spiraling into accusations of questioners being “transphobic.”
Many countries have concluded that the evidence backing the benefits of puberty blockers, cross-sex hormones, and surgeries is insufficient, so much so that that the costs and risks of the irreversible procedures likely outweighs their benefits for gender dysphoric children.
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Norway – The Norwegian Healthcare Investigation Board (NHIB/UKOM) recently found that its gender-affirming care guidelines were not evidence-based and relied on cherry-picked studies. The board concluded that puberty blockers, cross-sex hormones, and gender-affirming surgery for children and youth were experimental and proposed updated guidelines that these interventions be restricted to research settings.
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Finland – The Finnish Health Authority (COHERE) conducted a systematic review of the data in 2020 and concluded that psychotherapy, or what we might call counseling, should be the first line of treatment for gender dysphoric youth, not puberty blockers and cross-sex hormones, which should be reserved for rare cases. The review warned of the irreversible nature of gender-affirming interventions, and how a minor’s lack of neurological maturity impacts these decisions.
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Sweden – The Swedish National Board of Health and Welfare in 2022 sharply curtailed youth eligibility for puberty blockers and cross-sex hormones, and like Finland, said treatment should seldom go beyond psychotherapy, save for rare cases. This is coming from the country that was first to legalize gender transition in 1972.
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France – France’s National Academy of Medicine urged doctors to be cautious in offering pharmaceutical and surgical gender-affirming interventions to minors. They cited the psychological vulnerability of minors and the serious risks associated with these treatments – weak bones, risk of sterility, and emotional and intellectual consequences.
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Britain – Britain’s National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) conducted systemic reviews and found that the scientific evidence underpinning common gender-affirming treatments was weak, discouraging, and often contradictory. Puberty blockers were found to have little impact on patients’ well-being and cross-sex hormones were found to have low certainty in improving mental health.
What data are these countries seeing that Oregon is not? In Oregon, our children are quickly becoming victims of medical experimentation as parents are iced out and government takes their places. Democrats in the legislature would rather gain popularity with leftist audiences on TikTok and social media than help the youth of today, and tomorrow’s future, than understand the permanence of abortion and transgender alterations.
HB 2002-B will ensure these experiments are continued to the detriment of children and their families, all with the State of Oregon’s stamp of approval. In addition, there is a Student Health Center Reproductive Health Grant Fund within the State Treasury. OHSU is readying itself to supply the doctors for every phase of the granted procedures within HB 2002-B. Doernbecher has a number of Gender Clinics offering a full range of services for children to alter their gender. I always thought of Doernbecher as being the best of the best children’s hospital, but with their willingness to embrace activism over facts, I am not so sure.
Take action now! Voice your concerns to every single lawmaker, especially those from the Democratic side of the aisle (email addresses below). Oregon is on a downward spiral, especially when it comes to safeguarding our children from human traffickers and medical experimentation.
Look for like-minded people who realize the recklessness of HB 2002-B and the destruction being inflicted upon our children, families and society. This bill is going to the House floor as a “special order of business” on May 1st. Shortly after, it will hit the Senate floor for a vote. Reach out!
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