A sweeping policy shift announced Tuesday to end Medicaid funding for pediatric gender treatments is being hailed by at least one veteran pediatrician, who argued that the procedures were never “compassionate” approaches for children facing gender dysphoria.

Concerns Over Safety and Efficacy

Dr. Quentin Van Meter, the immediate past president of the American College of Pediatricians (ACPeds), reflected on the new restrictions issued by the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) and Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS). Van Meter, a pediatric endocrinologist, asserted that government intervention is not meant to strip children of the care they need, arguing instead for ongoing mental health treatment to address the underlying issues driving their distress.

Van Meter cited a federally funded study that allegedly tried to bury the results after multiple transitioning children reportedly died by suicide. He also pointed to the shocking rise in potentially thousands of detransitioners and the irreversible damage caused by sex changes, including sterilization.

A Call for Systemic Change

Van Meter proposed cutting federal funding from medical schools that promote research into sex-change treatments or teach such procedures as the standard of care in their curricula. He also called for extending the statute of limitations to give detransitioners ample time to sue healthcare providers for facilitating such treatments.

Original reporting: Fox News (HLL/CB) — read the source article.