At the beginning of the month, both the American Society of Plastic Surgeons (ASPS) and the American Medical Association (AMA) came out against "gender-affirming care" for minors. That move was not borne of a sudden awakening of moral consciousness and medical ethics, of course. The AMA, up until two weeks ago, was a proponent of "gender-affirming care" for minors, after all. But on February 1, detransitioner Fox Varian won a $2 million malpractice suit against her psychologist and the doctor who performed a double mastectomy on her when she was just 16 years old. Last week, The Economist said dozens of detransitioners have filed similar lawsuits, warning that the costs could "run into hundreds of millions of dollars.
This writer's opinion is that those lawsuits don't go far enough. The politicians and organizations who pushed and codified "gender-affirming care" should also be held accountable. Why? Because now, suddenly, they're going to wash their hands of the damage they did, much in the way they asked for amnesty after COVID.
The Atlantic, hardly a bastion of right-wing thought, published a trans-critical article over the weekend, too.
The Atlantic, a far left publication, has come out today with a piece about how indefensible it is to transition kids. Massive sea change. We’ve won the PR war to end this absurd abuse. pic.twitter.com/0GO56aqhRy
— Robby Starbuck (@robbystarbuck) February 15, 2026
As the shaky evidence base for youth gender medicine has become better known, activists have retreated to an argument from authority. Never mind the Cass Report, whose findings resulted in the closure of Britain’s leading youth gender clinic. Never mind the study by a leading American practitioner showing that the treatments she championed did not improve minors’ mental health. Never mind reports that some adolescents were being put on a medical pathway after only a single clinic visit. For advocates, the important thing to remember was that “gender-affirming care” for minors—puberty blockers and hormones, plus surgery in rare cases—was endorsed by all of the major American medical associations.
"Doctors Agree,” proclaimed the American Civil Liberties Union: “Gender-Affirming Care Is Life-Saving Care.” GLAAD declared that “every major medical association and leading world health authority supports health care for transgender people and youth.” Fired up by the Republican “war on trans kids,” and naturally deferential to institutional authority, Democrats have tended to echo this line. At a 2023 congressional-subcommittee hearing on pediatric gender medicine, the ranking Democrat, Representative Mary Gay Scanlon of Pennsylvania, declared that “gender-affirming care is safe and effective” and “supported by every major medical association”—groups that collectively count more than 1.3 million doctors as members. “It’s not up for debate,” she said. In line with this, Joe Biden’s administration lobbied to remove age minimums from the industry’s standards of care.
Now, in fairness, The Atlantic did publish something similar in 2018, and Helen Lewis has written quite a bit about the trans issue, and with a critical eye.
But that was before the trans agenda and activism took off, and now that there are financial repercussions for pushing "gender-affirming care" on minors.
And while the rest of the world comes out of this mass psychosis, school counselors push transgender ideology even harder in K-12. This still funded by our taxes through “mental health” initiatives.
— Courage Is A Habit (@CourageHabit) February 15, 2026
Every time you see mental health grants being used, it’s to hire more school… pic.twitter.com/elzKbUEmOz
They're not ready to give it up yet, because they haven't been ruined financially. Which is why this writer supports lawsuits targeting these bodies and individuals.
And others are warning this isn't over.
At least the tide is turning. But, as a journalist who covers this issue fairly regularly, the effort to stop the scandal of the pediatric gender industry is far from over. There is a pipeline of big progressive money still behind it and its activists are waiting for a Democrat…
— Gerald Posner (@geraldposner) February 15, 2026
This writer believes Democrats will try to push legislation to protect providers from malpractice suits, and would anyone be surprised if they did?
Too late for girls like me. Doctors and the media and schools need to be held accountable for years of lying to us.
— Prisha Mosley🦎 (@PrishaMosley) February 15, 2026
We wrote about Prisha Mosley here.
Mosley struggled with depression and other mental health issues after being sexually assaulted. She got pregnant, and miscarried, but instead of receiving therapy, she was put on a path to transition to a boy. In testimony before several state legislatures, Mosley said the transition didn't help her but left her "sexually, mentally, and physically abused" and made her suicidal ideation worse. Mosley underwent a double mastectomy and still suffers phantom breast pain, as well as side effects from testosterone, including baldness, hair growth on her body, and shoulders that are so broad they "burn" with pain sometimes. She told the Kansas state legislature, "I want to save children from experiencing this pain as they chase a temporary euphoria promised by doctors selling snake oil. If you medically transition, you will be on the medical leash for life."
Transgenderism is going to be viewed by people in the very near future the way that we today view lobotomy. And we all need to remember the names and faces of the “experts” who promoted it, and the media figures that loudly proclaimed that “the APA and 90% of experts support it!” https://t.co/H87t2MdQsi
— Sólionath (@Anarseldain) February 15, 2026
Editor’s Note: Hollywood, academia, and liberal elites are out of touch with the average American.
Help us continue to report the truth about what 77 million patriots voted for by joining Townhall VIP and using promo code FIGHT to receive 60% off your membership.
Join the conversation as a VIP Member