It is no secret that Planned Parenthood has a history of disregarding human life and dignity. While committing over 300,000 abortions per year, the abortion giant has been caught injuring women disregarding their safety, aiding sex-traffickers, and profiting off of the body parts of unborn babies who have been killed in abortions, when they are not disposing of those babies as medical waste. Planned Parenthood’s recent expansion into “gender medicine” once again demonstrates their willingness to put profits over people as they dole out harmful “treatments” to teenagers with almost no questions asked.

Abigail Shrier recently wrote that about her interactions with a former Planned Parenthood “reproductive health assistant” whose job was to screen patients and take down their health history. The former employee told Shrier, “[Planned Parenthood’s] recent roles in trans activism are abhorrent,” explaining that during her 18 months working for Planned Parenthood, an average of 1-2 girls arrived at the clinic seeking testosterone every day.

There were no doctors on staff at the clinic, and the clinic employed a “gender counselor” who had no professional credentials or training. Teens seeking cross-sex hormones would speak with the clinic’s “counselor” who would forward his notes to a licensed mental health professional off-site. The licensed therapist would then approve the client for cross-sex hormones without even meeting him or her, much less giving a mental health evaluation.

The former employee who spoke with Shrier mentioned that she saw a consistent pattern when taking down health histories of emotional pain and distress, including anxiety, depression, bipolar disorder, and evidence of recent self-harm. These concerns went unaddressed as the clinic ushered young people into “transition” rather than helping them find help for serious mental health struggles.

Studies have shown that the majority of children with gender dysphoria will grow to be comfortable in their bodies by the time they reach adulthood if they are not encouraged to socially or medically “transition.” Puberty-blockers have serious long-term effects, including permanently stunting bone growth, and cross-sex hormones come with significant risks including risk of heart attack, infertility, and endometrial cancer. Furthermore, the most rigorous studies show very poor mental health outcomes when gender dysphoria is “treated” with cross-sex hormones and surgery.

Prescribing “transition” treatments based on an adolescent’s self-diagnosis is extremely irresponsible. On top of that, the former employee told Shrier, “I can say anecdotally that I never saw anybody read [the informed consent form].” She described teens who identify as transgender as a “cash cow” for Planned Parenthood, explaining, “They are kept on the hook for the foreseeable future in terms of follow-up appointments, bloodwork, meetings, etc., whereas abortions are (hopefully) a one-and-done situation.” 

Shrier writes that she has been unable to obtain numbers on how significant this revenue stream is, but notes that since, according to Planned Parenthood’s website, they are the second-largest provider of “gender-affirming hormone care,” “it seems reasonable to conclude that hormone treatments—pricey as they are—now contribute materially to Planned Parenthood’s bottom line.”

Planned Parenthood is ushering adolescents into life-altering “treatments” while disregarding serious underlying mental health concerns that should be addressed and treated. On top of that, in at least one clinic they have been doing so without any doctors or licensed mental health professionals onsite. Their irresponsible practices once again reveal that Planned Parenthood’s highest priority is their pocketbook.

(Image: Flickr, Fibonacci Blue, CC BY 2.0)