Genderism in the US is coming to an end. Other states may be targeted for abortion sanctions

The US Department of Health confirms the Donald Trump administration's commitment to end the practice of "sex reassignment" for children and adolescents. The directive, from the Robert F. Kennedy Department, has been the target of criticism from activist organisations since its publication on 1 May, which has focused on the secrecy of the names of the reviewers of the scientific section.

On November 19, therefore, the Department issued an updated decree with reviews from eight physicians addressing the issue of gender dysphoria [a mismatch of gender perception with biological reality, ed.] in adolescents.

The new rules on "gender reassignment" are intended to comply with Trump's Executive Order 14187 on "Protecting Children from Chemical and Surgical Mutilation." The document, issued on 28 January, understands children as "individuals under the age of 19" and mentions mutilation as the prescription of so-called "puberty blockers" or hormones of the opposite sex, as well as surgical interventions to change appearance.

The order also stopped cooperation with an activist group called the World Professional Association for Transgender Health (WPATH), whose conclusions were branded by Trump as damaging, using the phrase "junk science". Interventions on the bodies of adolescents in the name of transgenderism have ceased to be funded by Medicare and Medicaid insurance.

Secretary Kennedy's May decree was based on the conclusions of nine professionals in the fields of medicine, bioethics, psychology and philosophy. Their study is also the basis for the updated November edition.

The Common Sense Study

The study looks at "the health risks posed to children by attempts to change their biological sex," according to a November 19 press release. These risks "are significant, long-term, and too often ignored or inadequately monitored," the deputy secretary's office added.

The American Psychological Association responded to the May release of the directive, saying that "the lack of transparency ... undermines scientific insight and is inconsistent with standards for evidence-based policymaking." This led the Kennedy administration to release a list of peer-reviewers.

"Our report is an urgent warning to doctors and parents about the clear dangers of trying to turn girls into boys and vice versa," said Deputy Secretary Brian Christine.

A similar study was published in Britain in April 2024, authored by Hilary Cass, former president of the Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health. She, too, became the target of criticism from activists after the report - now known as the Cass Review - was published. The US decree cites the Cass report more than 140 times.

In the November version, individual reviewers focused on specific manifestations of "gender-affirming care," such as the removal or binding of breasts (which the UN considers violence against women, according to Karleen Gribble of Australia), the prescription of hormones (which is still an experimental practice, according to Richard Santen of the University of Virginia), and the staffing of the WPATH (which is suspect because of the imbalance of committee members).

Thus, in general, researchers in the reviews agree that this "care" for children is not beneficial in the sense that psychological or psychiatric associations in the US understand it. This is thus another step towards denying transgenderism, which takes the wind out of the sails of activists. The latter, of course, have reacted to it with disgust.

Sponsorship of abortion is a human rights violation, US says

Transgenderism is not the only cultural and ethical issue that the United States has taken aim at. The Trump administration's preoccupation with the issue is not limited to its own territory, as the State Department's new rules for producing its annual Human Rights Report indicate.

For obvious reasons, the State Department has always acted as the world's policeman, as evidenced by its assessment of the extent to which human, civil, political, and labor rights are protected in other countries. Countries such as China for allegedly ethnically cleansing the Uighur people, Nigeria for the activities of the Islamist movements Boko Haram and the Islamic State, and Saudi Arabia for executions for violations of religious rights are regularly featured in reports.

However, categories such as "state subsidies for abortion" will now be included in the report - a significant expansion from the "forced abortions and sterilizations" column that characterized reports in previous years. However, the current understanding of the Marco Rubio Department has expanded the definition to include cases where the country provides abortions covered by health insurance.

Even the sexual mutilation of minors described above under the guise of "sex reassignment" will be classified by the United States as a human rights violation. On the subject of abortion, embassies and consulates are supposed to collect estimated annual numbers of procedures - so France, which has pushed a non-existent 'right to abortion' into the constitution, is likely to leapfrog France in the index of violators.

Diplomatic surveillance

U.S. diplomats are to report on "all laws relating to diversity, 'equality' and inclusion in the workplace," those that arise from the agenda under the familiar acronym DEI. Mandatory quotas on hiring people based on gender or ethnicity are likely to fall into this category, with several European countries expected to see a drop in some sort of index.

Indeed, 'anti-hate speech laws' will also be targeted, particularly the UK's well-known rules for controlling expression on the internet. The European Chat Control instrument, which has so far been approved as voluntary by the EU Council, may also fall into this column.

A separate category of violation of human, civil and political rights will also be 'aiding mass migration', which the US Department of Diplomacy is likely to use against Central and South American countries through which large migration routes pass.

The 2024 report has already been published, so the State Department will use these rules for next year's report, which is expected to be released no later than April 2026. Last year's report was released in August, but the reason for that was a change in administration.