{"id":2690132,"date":"2026-10-23T09:03:57","date_gmt":"2026-10-23T13:03:57","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/utm_sourcerssutm_mediumrssutm_campaignkennedys-hhs-puts-gender-medicines-biggest-medical-groups-on-the-clock\/"},"modified":"2026-10-23T09:03:57","modified_gmt":"2026-10-23T13:03:57","slug":"utm_sourcerssutm_mediumrssutm_campaignkennedys-hhs-puts-gender-medicines-biggest-medical-groups-on-the-clock","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/utm_sourcerssutm_mediumrssutm_campaignkennedys-hhs-puts-gender-medicines-biggest-medical-groups-on-the-clock\/","title":{"rendered":"HHS Puts Gender Medicine\u2019s Biggest Medical Groups On The Clock"},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"&quot;\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">20<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Futm_sourcerssutm_mediumrssutm_campaignkennedys-hhs-puts-gender-medicines-biggest-medical-groups-on-the-clock%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=2690132&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><p class=\"readmore\">\n    <button onclick=\"showReadMore()\" id=\"readmorebtn\">Read more&#8230;<\/button>\n<\/p>\n<hr id=\"line\">\n<span id=\"more\"><\/p>\n<div>\n<p>For years, America\u2019s leading medical and psychological organizations have insisted that so-called \u201cgender-affirming care\u201d for minors is medically necessary, evidence-based, and even lifesaving. Questioning these claims could get you labeled a bigot, accused of harming children, or professionally ostracized.<\/p>\n<p>Now, they are being pressed to put their money where their mouth is.<\/p>\n<p>On Oct. 14, the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), under Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., <a href=\"https:\/\/www.hhs.gov\/press-room\/hhs-demands-answers-medical-organizations-sex-rejecting-procedures-minors.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">issued formal demands<\/a> to six influential medical organizations: the American Academy of Pediatrics, American Psychological Association, American Psychiatric Association, American Medical Association (AMA), Endocrine Society and World Professional Association for Transgender Health (WPATH).<\/p>\n<p>The demand is rather simple: State your current position on medical gender-transition interventions for minors, identify any planned revisions, and say when they will happen. In announcing the letters, Kennedy made clear HHS also wants to see the evidence, saying these organizations \u201chave a responsibility to explain the evidence behind those standards.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>They have 10 business days to respond.<\/p>\n<p>As of this writing, none of the organizations have responded publicly.<\/p>\n<figure>\n<p><span><\/p>\n<blockquote data-width=\"500\" data-dnt=\"true\">\n<div lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">\n<p>No dodging. No vague statements. HHS is demanding medical organizations explain where they stand on sex-rejecting procedures for minors and the evidence behind their guidance.<\/p>\n<p>This action is the latest step in the Trump Administration\u2019s effort to protect children from harmful\u2026 <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/ledjySfUtz\">pic.twitter.com\/ledjySfUtz<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p>\u2014 HHS (@HHSGov) <a href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/HHSGov\/status\/2112291401119535235?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">October 19, 2026<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><\/span> <\/p>\n<\/figure>\n<p>HHS says it first wrote to these groups on Dec. 30, 2025. In its letters to the American Psychological Association (APA), <a href=\"https:\/\/www.hhs.gov\/press-room\/hhs-demands-answers-medical-organizations-sex-rejecting-procedures-minors-dr-radix-wpath.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">WPATH<\/a> and the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.hhs.gov\/press-room\/hhs-demands-answers-medical-organizations-sex-rejecting-procedures-minors-dr-underwood-ama.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">AMA<\/a>, the department wrote, \u201cTo date, the Department has received nothing.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>In his letter to the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.hhs.gov\/press-room\/hhs-demands-answers-medical-organizations-sex-rejecting-procedures-minors-dr-williams-apa.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">APA<\/a>, Kennedy wrote, \u201cFor an organization that rarely wants for words on this subject, the silence is telling \u2014 and deeply disappointing.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>And he\u2019s right.<\/p>\n<p>For an organization that has spent years lecturing clinicians like me about affirming gender identity, policing language and promoting ideological positions under the guise of science, offering HHS no substantive reply when asked to defend its recommendations is quite remarkable.<\/p>\n<p>But the most significant development, in my opinion, is HHS\u2019s direct challenge to the American Psychiatric Association\u2019s Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM).<\/p>\n<p>In its <a href=\"https:\/\/www.hhs.gov\/press-room\/hhs-demands-answers-medical-organizations-sex-rejecting-procedures-minors-dr-rapaport-apa.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">letter<\/a> to the psychiatric association, HHS states that the DSM has not been updated to reflect the current evidence on the harms of pediatric medical transition. It demands that the association identify potential revisions or corrections to the manual and provide a timeline for those changes. <\/p>\n<p>Considering that the American Psychiatric Association\u2019s Future <a href=\"https:\/\/psychiatryonline.org\/doi\/10.1176\/appi.ajp.20250878\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">DSM Strategic<\/a> Committee is already mapping out the next edition, this letter comes at the perfect time to make sure some actual science makes it into the manual. In that same roadmap, the committee concedes that the criticism that the DSM is built on expert consensus rather than empirical science is, \u201cstrictly speaking,\u201d true. It is even proposing to rename it the \u201cDiagnostic and Scientific Manual.\u201d You can\u2019t make this up.<\/p>\n<p>Finally \u2014 someone from the top is demanding accountability.<\/p>\n<p>The DSM has become the unquestionable authority in mental health. Its diagnostic labels influence treatment decisions, insurance reimbursement, research funding and how patients understand themselves. Yet many of its diagnostic categories rely on clusters of subjective symptoms and expert consensus rather than objective biological markers. Despite this, the profession routinely treats its classifications as though they are settled scientific facts rather than psychiatric constructs subject to revision, disagreement, and institutional influence.<\/p>\n<p>When an organization carries this much authority over clinical practice, we should demand the highest standards of scientific integrity.<\/p>\n<p>Apparently, that\u2019s too much to ask.<\/p>\n<p>Meanwhile, other medical organizations are beginning to acknowledge the uncertainty that activists and professional associations have spent years dismissing.<\/p>\n<p>In February, the American Society of Plastic Surgeons issued an updated position <a href=\"https:\/\/www.plasticsurgery.org\/documents\/health-policy\/positions\/2026-gender-surgery-children-adolescents.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">statement<\/a>, acknowledging the low quality of available evidence and recommending that surgeons delay gender-related breast\/chest, genital and facial surgery until patients are at least 19.<\/p>\n<p>This should concern every parent who was assured that the science was settled.<\/p>\n<p>And let\u2019s not forget WPATH, whose Standards of Care have helped shape medical policies and treatment recommendations. HHS has <a href=\"https:\/\/www.hhs.gov\/press-room\/hhs-applauds-ftc-action-against-wpath.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">challenged<\/a> the integrity of its guideline-development process, including allegations involving suppressed evidence reviews, conflicts of interest and political considerations. On June 17, the Federal Trade Commission and four states <a href=\"https:\/\/clearinghouse.net\/case\/48401\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">sued WPATH<\/a> over those standards. In a July 28 motion to dismiss, WPATH called its Standards of Care non-actionable scientific opinion.<\/p>\n<p>So much for settled science.<\/p>\n<p>The issue extends far beyond gender medicine. We are watching what happens when professional organizations become so accustomed to institutional authority that they seemingly forget they have an obligation to justify their recommendations.<\/p>\n<p>Science is supposed to welcome scrutiny. It is supposed to withstand challenges, invite disagreement and correct itself when evidence demands it.<\/p>\n<p>It is not supposed to demand obedience.<\/p>\n<p>HHS\u2019s letters do not automatically overturn clinical guidelines or force these organizations to revise their positions. But they do something we have desperately needed in medicine and mental health: They put the burden of explanation back on the institutions making the claims.<\/p>\n<p>For those of us who have spent years challenging ideological conformity within our profession, this is our moment of truth \u2014 are these organizations going to produce their evidence to support their claims, or will they finally have to admit that their so-called science was more ideological than factual? I\u2019m going to bet the latter.<\/p>\n<hr>\n<p>   Soad Tabrizi, LMFT, is a licensed Marriage and Family Therapist, writer, and founder of Conservative Counselors \u2013 a directory connecting reality-based therapists with clients seeking mental health care without fear of ideological judgment. Based in Orange County, California, she operates a private practice and is licensed in nine states. She writes on Substack, where she also hosts a monthly live show, On the Couch, for her subscribers. Her work challenges the ideological capture of psychology and calls out woke orthodoxy in therapy and culture. An unapologetic Christian and outspoken advocate for conservative clinicians, she fights for their rightful place in the mental health profession.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<p><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>For years, America\u2019s leading medical and psychological organizations have insisted that so-called \u201cgender-affirming care\u201d for minors is medically necessary, evidence-based, and even lifesaving. Questioning these claims could get you labeled a bigot, accused of harming children, or professionally ostracized. Now, they are being pressed to put their money where their mouth is. On Oct. 14<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4444,"featured_media":2690133,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/husien-bisky-ZuIucrhwHvA-unsplash.jpg","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[546],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2690132","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-the-federalist"],"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/husien-bisky-ZuIucrhwHvA-unsplash.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2690132","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4444"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2690132"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2690132\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2690133"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2690132"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2690132"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2690132"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}