Vanderbilt University Medical Center Discontinues All Permanent 'Gender Affirmation Surgery'
Published: 08-10-2022 18:41
Vanderbilt University Medical Center has announced that it will be discontinuing all "gender affirmation surgery" for minors until further notice. This comes after intense scrutiny from Tennessee lawmakers who have been critical of the hospital's decision to allow such procedures on children.
Vanderbilt is one of the only hospitals in the state that offers this type of surgery, and lawmakers have been pressuring the hospital to stop performing the procedures on minors. In a statement, Vanderbilt said that it "recognizes the importance of this issue and the strong feelings people have about it" but that it "must make clinical decisions based on what is in the best interests of our patients."
The decision to halt the surgeries comes as Tennessee lawmakers are considering a bill that would ban gender affirmation surgery for minors altogether. The bill's sponsor, Republican state senator Mark Pody, has said that he believes such procedures are "child abuse" and that they should not be allowed in the state.
Critics of the bill say that it would deny transgender children the ability to receive life-saving medical care. Supporters argue that children are not capable of making such a decision and that they should wait until they are adults.
The debate over whether or not to allow gender affirmation surgery for minors is sure to continue in Tennessee and across the country. For now, Vanderbilt University Medical Center has made its position clear: until further notice, no more permanent 'gender affirmation surgery' for minors will take place at their facility.
