A newly-created database called the Stop the Harm Database shows that 225 hospitals around the United States offer so-called “gender-affirming care” to minor children. Sadly, three of the hospitals listed in the database are in Chicago and another two are in St. Louis.

“Gender-affirming care” is the term typically used by transgender radicals to describe treatments that either prevent the normal development of sexual characteristics or make a “transgender” person’s body look more like a body of the opposite sex. “Gender-affirming care” can include puberty blockers, opposite-sex hormones*, and so-called “sex reassignment surgery.”

According to The Daily Signal, almost 14,000 American children received some form of “gender-affirming care” between 2019 – 2023.[1] Nearly 6,000 of those children received “sex reassignment surgery.” These treatments and procedures have reportedly cost American families more than $119 million.[2] The Stop the Harm Database was created by a watchdog organization called Do No Harm; the organization has indicated that the database likely undercounts the actual number of minor patients subjected to “gender-affirming care.”

In the Land of Lincoln, a total of 418 minors received “gender-affirming care” between 2019 and 2023. Of that number, 211 received “sex reassignment surgery.” The Illinois medical providers with the largest numbers of minor patients receiving “gender-affirming care” include Lurie Children’s Hospital of Chicago (145 victims), University of Chicago Comer Children’s Hospital (8 victims), and Shriners Children’s Chicago (1 victim). To see the full list of Illinois providers that have offered “gender-affirming care” to minors, click HERE.

In the Metro-East St. Louis area, “gender-affirming care” is being committed at the St. Louis Children’s Hospital (49 victims) and at Mercy Kids Children’s Hospital St. Louis (8 victims).

It is outrageous for any medical provider to furnish “gender-affirming care” to minors. These treatments can have lifelong consequences, and children and teens are not mature enough to fully understand those consequences. In recent years, people known as detransitioners have expressed regret about the “gender-affirming care” they received. Furthermore, “gender-affirming care” fails to address and resolve the underlying mental health issues that cause gender dysphoria in the first place.

Consider the case of Chloe Cole, a self-described “former trans kid” who de-transitioned after undergoing years of puberty blockers and an irreversible double mastectomy at the age of 15. Now a few years older and wiser, she is traveling across the country to share her story and to encourage the rest of us to speak out against these procedures on children.

Chloe calls it “child abuse” and “medical experimentation.” Please watch and listen to this short 5 minute video clip and share it on your social media platforms:

America’s children are being systematically indoctrinated with perverse gender ideology by teachers, mental health counselors, and on social media platforms. In 2022, President Biden’s Assistant Secretary of Health, Dr. Richard “Rachel” Levine, called for the government to “empower kids to go on puberty blockers and obtain sex-reassignment surgery.”

“Rapid-onset gender dysphoria” (ROGD), an alarming trend which primarily affects teenage girls, attributes the sudden or rapid onset of gender dysphoria in adolescents and young adults to peer pressure and the growing amplification of social media.

Children suffering from gender dysphoria need help, not affirmation in the way of “gender-affirming care.” The Bible teaches us that we can “do all things through Christ,” and with the help of the Holy Spirit, we can “take every thought captive to make it obedient to Christ.” (Philippians 4:13; Romans 8:9; 2 Corinthians 10:5)

Young people who are struggling with gender identity need our compassionate response to help them overcome the temptations and depraved thinking of our godless culture.

They need mature Christians to pray with them, for them, and to point them to the Truth that God created them unique and loves them to the point of willingly dying for them. They need mature Christians to disciple them and teach them that we are to be content regardless of our circumstances and to rejoice in the day that the Lord has made. (Philippians 4:11; Psalm 118:24)

*Planned Parenthood is perhaps the state’s largest provider of “hormone therapy” and other services for gender confused children.

[1] The Daily Signal contends that the “gender-affirming care” referred to in the database is irreversible. While “sex reassignment surgery” and opposite-sex hormones have irreversible consequences, there is debate about whether puberty blockers are fully reversible. On the one hand, mainstream U.S. medical sources assert that patients who stop taking puberty blockers without pursuing other forms of “gender-affirming care” will experience normal puberty. On the other hand, multiple sources indicate that puberty blockers may have other consequences that are irreversible. Earlier this year, England’s National Health Service (NHS) stopped prescribing puberty blockers for youngsters with gender dysphoria due to concerns about their safety and effectiveness.

[2] Thankfully, at least 20 states have passed Help Not Harm laws that protect minors from being subjected to “gender-affirming care.”