patrick.net

Democrats were outraged that this week’s $895 billion Defense Authorization bill included a tiny tweak of the military’s health care plan. The change deleted coverage for any “medical interventions for the treatment of gender dysphoria that could result in sterilization” of children under 18. Speaker Mike Johnson had insisted the language be added before allowing the bill to the House floor for a vote.

The Times, which exaggerated the change saying it “denies transgender health coverage to children,” did not explain why Democrats or anybody else would want the military to pay for treatments that sterilize children. Halfwit Senator Tammy Baldwin (D-Wi.) told the Times, “It’s flat-out wrong to put this provision in this bill and take away a service member’s freedom to make that decision for their families.”

What? Unless this kind of care is banned in their state, service members retain “the freedom” to make that decision. They just have to pay for it themselves. But if they live in a sane state like Florida, where we don’t sterilize our children, the coverage wouldn’t help anyway.

We are not yet anywhere close to de-transing our military, but this is a step in the right direction. Maybe a few kids will be rescued since their parents are too cheap to pay out of pocket for sterilization. It seems to me a better law would require the parents to get the same treatment as the kids. I can dream, can’t I?

Sec. 709. Prohibition of coverage under TRICARE program of certain medical procedures for children that could result in sterilization
Section 1079(a) of title 10, United States Code, is amended by adding at the end the following new paragraph:

(20) Affirming hormone therapy, puberty blockers, and other medical interventions for the treatment of gender dysphoria that could result in sterilization may not be provided to a child under the age of 18.