Sixty-two members of the Tennessee House of Representatives sent a letter to Vanderbilt University Medical Center on Wednesday urging its Pediatric Transgender Clinic to immediately halt all gender-bending trans surgeries performed on minors.
“It is deeply troubling that Vanderbilt University Medical Center appears to be motivated by profits in its practice of recommending such radical and life-altering surgery for minors,” state Rep. Jason Zachary, who penned the letter, wrote. “We expect Vanderbilt’s Board of Directors to simply do what is right by choosing to protect the well-being and health of vulnerable children.”
The letter comes after videos on social media of a Vanderbilt doctor describing the surgeries as a “huge money maker” for the hospital went viral. Another video shows a staff member saying there would be “consequences” for employees who decline to participate in these mutilative surgeries.
“While those 18-years and older are recognized as legal adults and free to make decisions in their best interest, it is an egregious error of judgment that an institution as highly respected as Vanderbilt would condone (and promote) harmful and irreversible procedures for minor children in the name of profit,” the letter said.
Zachary also reiterated that Vanderbilt and its affiliates should honor its employees’ religious and conscientious objections to opt out of performing certain surgeries and procedures.
Since 2018, Vanderbilt’s Pediatric Transgender Clinic has offered wrongly termed “gender-affirming care” for minors, including performing double mastectomies on otherwise healthy teenage girls, and chemically castrating children with drugs normally reserved for sex offenders, rendering them infertile. After The Daily Wire’s Matt Walsh exposed the facility, Vanderbilt wiped its web pages promoting permanent transgender surgeries for kids.
Tennessee Republicans are giving Vanderbilt 10 days to respond to the letter. Regardless of Vanderbilt’s response, they plan to introduce legislation barring gender-bending procedures for minors when the Tennessee General Assembly convenes on January 10, 2023. Tennessee’s Republican Gov. Bill Lee has also called for an investigation into Vanderbilt’s Pediatric Transgender Clinic.
