North Carolina Republican Sen. Ted Budd highlighted a concerning issue recently during a Senate HELP Committee hearing. The National Institutes of Health (NIH) funded a two-year study on the impacts of cross-sex hormones on adolescent mental health, and although depression and anxiety decreased slightly over the course of the examination, two participants tragically committed suicide during the study. Eleven other participants developed suicidal ideation as well.
Several senators, including Budd, Marco Rubio, and Rand Paul, sent a letter to the NIH to inquire why taxpayer money was being used to fund a study that resulted in patient deaths.
Oklahoma Republican Rep. Josh Brecheen released a statement, “It is sickening that the federal government is preying on young people and using our taxpayer dollars to advance its radical gender ideology. We are rightfully demanding answers from NIH and we are committed to holding those responsible accountable for this tragic loss of life.”
Budd posed a crucial question to Surgeon General of the United States, Vivek Murthy, “Now the researchers, they concluded that the study was a success. But they admitted also that they couldn’t show that cross sex hormones improved the psychosocial functioning for minors. So clearly, it looks like this was a real waste of taxpayer dollars. Even worse than that, it led or contributed to the suicide of two youth.” He then asked, “So Dr. Murthy, considering what I understand is your past support for providing cross sex hormones to children, can you explain whether you think spending more taxpayer dollars on research into transgender procedures on minors will actually help children with the mental issues that we’re discussing today?”
Murthy commented that it is essential to research interventions that will improve the mental health and well-being of transgender youth. He noted, “Because what we see clearly in the data is that as disturbing as these rates of anxiety, depression and suicide are, they’re actually disproportionately higher among LGBTQ youth, particularly transgender youth, and studies that look to understand what interventions would work to address those psychosocial concerns, I do think are important because it is a community that is struggling.”
It is concerning that the NIH thought it was necessary to fund a study that ultimately resulted in the suicide of two participants. Although understanding the mental health of transgender youth is important, it seems unethical to spend taxpayer money on a study where participants’ lives were put in danger.
Furthermore, it raises the question of how such a study would be conducted in the future to ensure the safety of all participants. Although Murthy was not directly involved with the study, he did attempt to provide an answer for Budd’s question, noting that it is important to research what interventions may alleviate psychosocial concerns for transgender youth.
Moving forward, this begs the question of what type of preventative measures might be established to prevent further tragedies from occurring as a result of studies dealing with gender identities.
I am not a professional, but I think that therapy to help children work through their problems seems safer than messing with their biology.