Parents across Oregon are critical of a new Medicaid program that would pay out state aid to help teenagers as young as 15 get a sex change operation without parental consent.
The new policy directs Oregon’s Medicaid program to cover sex change surgeries, puberty suppressing drugs, and cross-sex hormones for teens starting at age 15, all without consultations with a teen’s parents.
The decision to begin the program was made by the state’s Health Evidence Review Commission (HERC), a board whose members are appointed by the governor, not elected, and are unaccountable to the citizens.
HERC says that the state’s Medicaid program will cover up to $150,000 a year per patient in sex change expenses.
The medical review board issued a statement justifying its decision saying, “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.”
But as many critics note, there is a long list of things a 15-year-old can’t do in the Beaver State. That list includes driving, smoking, giving blood, using a tanning bed, or getting a tattoo. Yet now they can get a life-changing operation and without consulting a parent?
The parents’ rights group Parents’ Rights in Education is outraged at the new policy.
“It is trespassing on the hearts, the minds, the bodies of our children,” the group’s spokesman, Ori Porter, said. “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 mind-boggling.”
At least one doctor criticized HERC’s new policy, saying that kids as young as 15 may not be able to mentally comprehend the import of the sex changes.
“Children age 15 may not fully understand all the consequences of the procedures they are undergoing,” Dr. Jack Drescher, a member of the APA who worked on the Sexual and Gender Identity Disorders Work Group, told Fox News.
Follow Warner Todd Huston on Twitter @warnerthuston or email the author at igcolonel@hotmail.com