Combatants on both sides of the war over gender-altering drugs and surgeries for minors are crying out, “We’ve got to help these distressed children!”
However, trying to chart a course toward that goal is like trying to see clearly through a dust storm.
Arguments over medical standards, morality, and money are swirling through statehouses and courthouses, schools and churches, hospitals and homes. Undisputed facts are in short supply, obscured by waves of emotion and evolving, politicized terminology.
At the same time, a rising tide of juveniles experiencing gender dysphoria, a persistent dissatisfaction with one’s gender, demands urgent attention.
Against that backdrop, officials in Arkansas—home of the nation’s first ban on gender-altering procedures for children under 18—will see if the law holds up in court….