Major medical group unveils policy pushing 'unobstructed access' to gender-transition treatment for children

A leading scientific organization in the U.S. representing more than 150,000 licensed psychologists announced a new policy this week urging clinics to provide "unobstructed access" to gender-transitioning treatments for children.

The American Psychological Association (APA) adopted the resolution titled "Affirming Evidence-Based Inclusive Care for Transgender, Gender Diverse, and Nonbinary Individuals, Addressing Misinformation, and the Role of Psychological Practice and Science," in a 153-9 vote on Feb. 24.

The policy affirms "evidence-based care for transgender, gender diverse and nonbinary children, adolescents and adults" and further "affirms APA’s support for unobstructed access to healthcare and evidence-based clinical care."

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"Evidence-based clinical care, including gender-affirming care, should be noncoercive, adaptive to and centered on the needs of the individual receiving care, and rooted in psychological and clinical science, including recognition of gender diversity as a part of normal human diversity as well as recognition of limits in the current state of scientific knowledge," the policy read.

The APA also encouraged all licensed psychologists to "unite" against the spread of "misinformation" about surgical and non-surgical transgender treatments. 

"Misinformation further creates distress and confusion for families and loved ones of transgender, gender-diverse, and nonbinary individuals, as they make decisions about their healthcare," the policy stated.

The policy arrives as 22 states currently have bans on gender-transition treatments for children, while in five states, medical professionals face felony charges for conducting such treatments or surgical procedures, according to data from the progressive research group Movement Advancement Project.

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But some say the APA's policy is another progressive "ideological" push in the scientific community. 

Senior researcher Jay Richards at Heritage Foundation, a conservative public policy think tank, told Fox News Digital in an interview that the APA's policy is "rankly political."

"It is a prime example of how medical associations can be captured ideologically," he said. "This is definitely evidence of the APA doubling down on promotion on so-called gender-affirming care, and it's really, I would say, sex-denying care."

"I actually think it's probably a mistake on their part politically, because these procedures are wildly unpopular among the general public left, right, and center," he added.

The APA previously came under fire for its other progressive claims. Earlier this month, it claimed that "[h]iring the most qualified candidate might be unfair" based on one of its recent studies.

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The study, titled "Can Selecting the Most Qualified Candidate Be Unfair?," examined people’s perceptions of merit-based hiring after learning more about the socioeconomic status of potential workers. While previewing the results, it argued that hiring the most qualified candidate could contribute to more inequality.

In 2019, the organization also claimed that "traditional masculinity" could be mentally damaging.

"The main thrust of the subsequent research is that traditional masculinity — marked by stoicism, competitiveness, dominance and aggression — is, on the whole, harmful," it claimed in a press release.
 
 Fox News' Lindsay Kornick contributed to this report.