Commentary

Why Isn’t OSMA Protecting Kids?

  • By Do No Harm Staff
  • February 10, 2023

The Oklahoma State Medical Association doesn’t care about vulnerable children.

That’s the unavoidable takeaway of OSMA’s recent announcement that it opposes several bills in the state legislature that would protect children from dangerous transgender medical procedures by restricting so-called “gender-affirming care.” Why is the organization that represents Oklahoma physicians putting extreme gender ideology ahead of children’s health and well-being?

OSMA’s opposition couldn’t come at a more awkward time. This week, a whistleblower at a Missouri children transgender center went public with the de facto child abuse she witnessed on a daily basis:

“I left the clinic in November of last year because I could no longer participate in what was happening there. By the time I departed, I was certain that the way the American medical system is treating these patients is the opposite of the promise we make to “do no harm.” Instead, we are permanently harming the vulnerable patients in our care.”

The whistleblowers described children being given puberty blockers, cross-sex hormones, and even referrals for sex-reassignment surgeries. She also saw how these treatments led to severe medical issues, including infertility, and were given without question to children suffering from major mental health issues. Such is the nature of the “gender-affirming care” that OSMA wants to maintain.

Figure 1. From “Medicine Day 2023” announcement (Oklahoma State Medical Association).

OSMA may be completely in thrall to transgender activists, but its members know better. One member sent us the following note:

“I have been an OSMA member for many years. I just got my dues renewal and I will not – I cannot – send them money this year because they’re hurting kids by opposing this legislation. They need to stop politicizing their approach to medicine without regard for patient safety or wellbeing. They are doing so without the support of the members they represent and I can no longer be a part of dangerous pseudomedicine.”

We couldn’t agree more. The Oklahoma State Medical Association should focus on medicine, not radical gender ideology. And the state legislature would be wise to restrict transgender treatments for children as soon as possible. The health and well-being of vulnerable Oklahoma children depend on it.

Is your medical association advocating extreme ideology? Please let us know – securely and anonymously.