WASHINGTON (TND) — A report released Monday alleges the World Professional Association for Transgender Health (WPATH) has supported “unethical” medical procedures in its advocacy for transgender health care.
WPATH consists of doctors from across the world who treat transgender patients. Michael Shellenberger, the president of Environmental Progress, published findings suggesting the nonprofit has operated with a political agenda while approaching transgender health care, something he calls one of history’s “worst” medical scandals.
“Its approach to medicine is consumer-driven and pseudoscientific, and its members appear to be engaged in political activism, not science,” the report reads.
WPATH’s internal messaging forum and panel discussion demonstrated the organization advocated for “arbitrary” medical strategies, according to the report’s findings. The nonprofit allegedly experimented surgically and hormonally on minors and “vulnerable” adults, which fell short of qualifying as a justifiable practice.
READ MORE | Group claims minors should be able to undergo gender transition at younger age
“While there is a place in medicine for risky experiments, these can only be justified if there is a reliable, objective diagnosis, no other treatment options are available and if the outcome for a patient or patient group is dire,” the findings state. “Contrary to WPATH’s claims, gender medicine does not fall into this category.”
WPATH has supported painful, life-altering operations, like reproductive systems’ destruction and breast amputation for children and people with mental illnesses, the report claims. Organizational members have allegedly admitted some patients cannot comprehend the procedures’ effects.
In an interview with The National Desk (TND) Tuesday, Shellenberger alleged WPATH is “making things up as it goes.”
“This is the group that says it has the scientific standards of care, and it doesn’t,” Shellenberger told TND.
READ MORE | Transgender health org removes age limits for ‘gender-affirming’ treatment, surgery
“At a minimum, I think people should be willing to pause this so-called medicine, which we call mistreatment, put a pause on it, study it, let’s figure out what’s really going on,” he continued. “Because it looks like a lot of people are really being hurt unnecessarily.”
Environmental Progress is demanding the U.S. investigate how WPATH rose in stature despite its alleged neglect of ethical concerns.
In a statement to TND, WPATH president Marci Bowers, M.D., said the nonprofit “is and has always been a science- and evidence-based organization whose recommendations are widely endorsed by major medical organizations around the world.”
“We are the professionals who best know the medical needs of trans and gender diverse individuals—and stand opposed to individuals who misrepresent and de-legitimize the diverse identities and complex needs of this population through scare tactics,” Bowers told TND. “The small percentage of the population that is trans or gender diverse deserves healthcare and will never be a threat to the global gender binary.”
In its recommendations released in 2022, WPATH removed age requirements for “gender-affirming” treatments. The organization elected at the time to swap the age limit threshold for one that relies on an individual’s stage of puberty.
Follow Ray Lewis on X for trending national news @rayjlewis or send a tip to [email protected].
