Bioethicist Affiliated with Children’s Hospital Says Refusing Puberty Blockers Is Psychological Abuse

A bioethicist affiliated with the Children’s Mercy Hospital claimed that not giving children puberty blockers is a form of psychological abuse and implied that parents who refuse the treatment should be held criminally liable.

Maura Priest, who is an assistant professor at Arizona State University (ASU), claimed that not giving gender dysphoric children puberty blockers is a form of psychological abuse.

Professor at Children’s Mercy Hospital says not giving a child puberty blockers is a form of psychological abuse and suggests parents should be held criminally liable and the state should intervene. pic.twitter.com/VsvTFlIkJj

— Libs of TikTok (@libsoftiktok) August 18, 2022

Priest claimed, “Whether the parents fully understand it or not transgender children going through puberty as their own gender is harmful.” 

She goes on to claim that refusing puberty blockers can cause “immediate and intense psychological harm” as well as “lasting and irreversible physical harm.”

“Some courts have ruled that naturalist parents are required to treat their children according to traditional principles of Western medicine,” Priest remarked. She went on to say “not only that but they are held criminally liable if they don’t do so.” Priest continued, “Arguably a similar case could be made of parents of transgender children.”

Priest also presented an ethics education webinar called “Transgender Children and the Right to Transition.” Her biography on the ASU website says that she has a certificate in Pediatric Bioethics from Children’s Mercy Hospital and has “published more than 20 peer-reviewed articles in ethics, epistemology, political philosophy, and bioethics.”

An academic article written by Priest says, “Taking LGBT patient testimony seriously also means that parents should lose veto power over most transition-related pediatric care.”

Breitbart News has revealed that the companies that manufacture puberty blockers have compensated numerous doctors who are directly involved with gender clinics at children’s hospitals. 

AbbVie, which manufactures a drug called Lupron that is commonly used off-label as puberty blocker, has even sponsored an organization dedicated to securing high-profile media appearances for youth who have gender dysphoria. 

Spencer Lindquist is a reporter for Breitbart News. Follow him on Twitter @SpencerLndqst and reach out at slindquist@breitbart.com