From 2016 to 2020, the number of gender transition surgeries performed in the U.S. each year increased fourfold, according to data from the American Society of Plastic Surgeons.
SO WHAT
The debate over the merits, ethics and safety of gender-related surgeries has been intensifying as the phenomenon becomes more widespread.
THE NUMBERS
3,256 people underwent gender transition operations in 2016, the ASPS reported in 2017, the first year the organization began tracking gender surgery data. The next year, the number of procedures spiked by 155%, to 8,304.
WHY DID IT HAPPEN
The expansion of gender surgeries can be traced back to two actions carried out under President Obama’s administration.
- In 2014, the administration overruled a law which blocked the use of Medicare funds for gender transition surgeries.
- Two years later, a ruling by Obama’s Department of Health and Human Services made it illegal to deny care on the basis of gender identity and pressured healthcare providers to cover gender reassignment procedures.
THE CONTROVERSY
Defenders of the surgeries have argued they’re medically necessary and rare: “Gender confirmation” accounted for a fraction of the 2.3 million cosmetic surgeries reported by the ASPS in 2020.
But critics have questioned the ethics of removing body parts to accommodate identity, especially when it comes to minors.
- In recent years, Republican lawmakers have put forth legislation aimed at barring doctors from performing transgender surgeries on minors.
- Daily Wire contributor Matt Walsh has been among the most prominent voices speaking out against the practice.
- Walsh recently published an exposé on Vanderbilt University’s Health Clinic, which included 2018 footage of a clinic doctor touting the moneymaking potential of gender transition surgeries.
