Biden admin. sued for records of Rachel Levine pushing to remove trans surgery age limits

By Samantha Kamman, Christian Post Reporter Wednesday, September 25, 2024

Rachel (Richard) Levine, a trans-identified nominee for Assistant Secretary in the Department of Health and Human Services, testifies at his confirmation hearing before the Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee on February 25, 2021, on Capitol Hill in Washington, D.C. Levine previously served as Secretary of the Pennsylvania Department of Health. | Caroline Brehman-Pool/Getty Images

A watchdog group is suing the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services for all records of communications of Assistant Secretary for Health Rachel Levine following a report that the trans-identified official's team pressured an international medical group to remove age limits for body-mutilating gender surgeries and other life-altering interventions.

The conservative nonprofit group Judicial Watch announced Friday that it had filed the lawsuit earlier this month in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia after the HHS did not respond in a timely manner to a July Freedom of Information Act request.

According to the filing, the FOIA request sought records of all communications to and from HHS Assistant Secretary Levine discussing the removal of proposed limits for surgical gender interventions in the World Professional Association for Transgender Health's 2022 Standards of Care.

After the group published its Standards of Care, media outlets noticed that it had removed a section on the minimum age requirements for children to obtain puberty blockers, cross-sex hormones or undergo body-altering surgeries.

In June, The New York Times shared the excerpts exchanged between Levine's staff and WPATH, which indicated that the HHS official was in favor of removing age limits on interventions for gender dysphoric minors, fearing they could leave doctors subject to lawsuits. The excerpts were part of legal filings in a federal lawsuit challenging Alabama's ban on gender surgeries and hormonal drugs for children.

"Biden-Harris appointee Admiral Levine, who abused power and is notorious for promoting transgender extremist policies, promoted mutilating surgeries for minors," Judicial Watch President Tom Fitton said in the announcement.

"It is no wonder the Biden-Harris administration wants to cover this up with unlawful secrecy. Judicial Watch's lawsuit to expose the truth is urgently needed to protect children."

The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services did not immediately respond to The Christian Post's request for comment.

According to a June 24 Alabama court filing cited by Judicial Watch, Levine feared that WPATH, including age limits in its Standards of Care, could make it harder for youth to undergo things like sex-change surgeries.

Psychologist Dr. James Cantor, who provided expert witness testimony during the proceedings, argued that Levine influenced the guidelines based on "political goals rather than science."

"Specifically, Assistant Secretary Levine, through a staff member, pressured WPATH to remove recommended minimum ages for medical transition treatments from SOC-8," Cantor said.

"As a result of this additional pressure, on top of that from Assistant Secretary Levine, WPATH capitulated and removed the text in violation of its own process despite the preference of its own committee members to retain the age limits."

In response to The New York Times report, federal officials initially told the outlet that the Biden administration opposed such surgeries for minors; however, the officials did not clarify if the administration also opposed prescribing children puberty blockers and opposite-sex hormones.

Following pushback from LGBT activist groups, the administration issued another clarification. The LGBT activist group Human Rights Campaign had led a coalition letter demanding that the Biden administration reaffirm its support for trans surgeries for minors.

In an email obtained by The Advocate in July, Neera Tanden, the director for Biden's Domestic Policy Council, told the LGBT activist group that the Biden administration would continue to oppose federal and state laws against what Tanden described as "gender-affirming care."

"Gender-affirming surgeries are typically reserved for adults, and we believe they should be," Tanden stated. "Above all, families should have the freedom to make the medical decisions that they and their doctors determine are best for them — which is why we oppose attempts to limit healthcare for transgender individuals in the courts or through legislation."

Samantha Kamman is a reporter for The Christian Post. She can be reached at: samantha.kamman@christianpost.com. Follow her on Twitter: @Samantha_Kamman