Florida becomes eighth state to restrict transgender care for minors

I certainly do not believe I'm infallible, and I appreciate your generally measured response. I think that politics and science have gotten terribly entangled in the last few years and it's very hard to pull those apart. As an analogy I said in another comment, I got the Covid vax, but it's clear now that scientists, i.e., Fauci, lied or obfuscated about many things and recommended a course of action (mandates and closures) that I think was not based in ethical risk analysis, rather from the political desire to appear to "help" from his position of immense power. The data is clear, if you were 55 or under and generally healthy, Covid posed very little serious risk. If you were older, I think the vax probably mitigated lot of bad outcomes. These type of situations are more than just "science." Science can tell you a transmission R Naught, but what you do with that information is subjective.

Some situations are more cut and dry, such as your appendicitis example. This is a procedure that has been diagnosed and executed for decades. There is little room for ambiguity and I would never question a doctor in that situation. It's also clear that vaccines such as those for Measles or Polio are unambiguously good, and well studied for years. No questions needed.

But you also bring up anxiety which much more more ambiguous, and the proper treatment is much less clear. I believe very much that doctors overprescribe anxiety, ADHD meds, SSRIs, etc, without suggesting other non-drug remedies first. Same with nutrition. While I think the answer is easy - just eat Real food as Michael Pollen suggests - "Science" has gone back and forth on the pros and cons of fat, meat, dairy, etc. You may of heard of Ozempic in the news, a new weight loss drug being pushed by many doctors that promote a genetic basis for obesity. But the fact remains genetics haven't changed much in the last 50 years as obesity has risen, instead, our crap diet of processed foods has.

Gender dysphoria is a mental disorder and thus its very nature and best treatment is inherently unclear. I believe we are at the very beginning of understanding this issue, and will most likely never be able to fully understand it, as I still don't believe we have a great understanding depression and anxiety. Given that situation, I think the rational risk analysis is to err on the side of non-intervention for children, up to a point where society agrees that a person has developed enough to make those important decisions on their own, regardless of merit.

I'll end by saying again that supporters of any "trans affirming" care do themselves no favors by promoting the most extreme versions of the ideology and crying bigotry when people disagree. A women is an adult human female. A trans women is not a "Real" women, they are a man with gender dysphoria. Trans women should not compete in women's sports, etc. Every human has the same cosmic worth and deserve respect, but we cannot deny reality. If the trans community would come off such objectively silly and false positions, I think people would be much more accepting of the movement.

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