California: The Downward Spiral, Pt.2

Sanctuary State of Gender Change in Children

10-15-2022 By Dr. Sherri Tenpenny

 

If you missed it, Part 1 of this article, find it here.

 

On September 29, 2022, Gov. Gavin Newsom had a heyday signing away the rights of everyone living in California. In fact, of the 1,166 bills the legislature sent him to consider, he signed 997 and vetoed 169. This page reviews some of what has become state law.

 

California Becomes Sanctuary State for Transgender Modifications

 

In the United States, an estimated 1.4 million individuals identify as transgender. The World Professional Association for Transgender Health said life-altering hormonal treatments could start as young as 14 years, and some surgeries could be performed on children as young as 15 years. The group acknowledged potential risks but said it is “unethical and harmful” to withhold early treatment. Critics, including some who have undergone transgender treatments, say clinics – and now state governments – are too quick to offer irreversible treatment to kids, many of whom would outgrow and grow past gender issues as they mature.

 

SB 107 was passed to make California a sanctuary state for transgender treatments, including hormones, puberty blockers and surgeries to permanently change the person’s anatomy.

 

The newly signed legislation will shield transgender people, including youth and their parents, from legal action from states with bans and restrictions. SB 107 will embrace gender-confused children who want to transition medically without the knowledge or consent of their parents. Essentially, the law undermines parental rights and puts vulnerable children at risk who are too young to see past the immediate consequences of their decisions. The law allows California doctors to permanently alter children’s bodies, again without fear of disciplinary action such as lawsuits or malpractice actions.

 

Info About Hormone Blockers

 

Current clinical guidelines recommend the use of puberty suppressing hormones, such as agonists [GnRHa]. This drug is most commonly used to treat prostate, ovarian and endometrial cancers. However, because these drugs powerfully suppress the hormones that are normally produced, called ‘gender-affirming hormones,’ introducing these drugs into children who want to change their God-given gender prior to puberty is thought to give the best results.

 

In September 2020, an article published in the Journal of Neuropsychopharmacology described the behavioral ramifications of puberty suppression in young transgender individuals. I lightly edited the abstract for clarity.

 

Many transgender adolescents experience gender dysphoria related to incongruence between their gender identity and sex assigned at birth. The dysphoria may worsen as puberty progresses.

 

Puberty suppression by gonadotropin-releasing hormone agonists (GnRHa), such as leuprolide (trade name: Lupron Depo), can help alleviate gender dysphoria and provide additional time before irreversible changes in sex characteristics start during normal puberty. However, the effects of GnRH agonists on brain function and mental health are not well understood. Here, we investigated the effects of leuprolide on reproductive function, social and affective behavior, cognition, and brain activity in a rodent model.

 

Six-week-old male and female mice were injected daily with saline or leuprolide (20 μg) for 6 weeks and tested in several behavioral assays. We found that in male mice, leuprolide leads to hyperlocomotion [constant motion due to excess nervous system stimulation], changes social preference [preferred male mice over female mice], and increases neuroendocrine stress responses. In female mice, the same dose of leuprolide (20 μg) increases hyponeophagia [lack of eating, representing anxiety] and despair-like behavior.

 

After 6 weeks of treatment and behavioral assays, the effects of leuprolide on reproductive organ weights were measured. Leuprolide decreased the weight of ovaries and uterine tissue in female mice and decreased weight of testes relative to body weight in the male mice.  These data indicate that GnRHa treatment affects female and male reproductive systems.

 

Conclusions: These data show that chronic leuprolide [GnRH agonist] treatment after onset of puberty exerts multiple adverse events on brain function, sexual prevalence, anxiety and the reproductive system.

 

Studies like this are being used to justify hormone-manipulating medical therapies in younger and younger children.

 

In a separate study, 85 individuals were enrolled in a study of leuprolide side effects. The average age of the girls in the study 14.5yrs; the average age of the boys was 13.9 years. The side effects from the GnRHa hormones included hot flashes, mood swings, and weight gain in both gender groups. All symptoms worsened after puberty and sex-appropriate hormones began to be produced internally.   

 

CONCLUSIONS:

I don’t know how many California legislators are physicians, pharmacists or have a medical background but even if there are only a few, they should be reading the medical literature and educating their colleagues. This was just a cursory overview of the long-term ramifications of the hundreds of legislative hammers that are about to land on Californians.

 

From 2020 to 2021, more than 249,000 people left California. Most likely, the exodus has just begun.

 

Thanks for reading Dr. Tenpenny’s Eye on the Evidence.