By Monica Chen 

A moment from the House Budget Committee hearing on Wednesday shocked people on social media when the HHS head Xavier Becerra admitted he would use government funds for sex change operations in children. 

In the tense exchange, Rep. Lauren Boebert, R-Colo., hammered Becerra on what his agency, the Department of Health and Human Services, is doing with “gender-affirming care.”

“So for the record, you favor HHS funding being used for sex reassignment for surgeries on minors?” Boebert asked. 

Secretary Becerra replied in the affirmative.  

“I will do everything I can to defend any American, including children… If they’re talking about gender-affirming care, I’m there to protect the rights of any American,” he said. 

The full video here: 

More than that moment, the entire stunning exchange laid bare just how politically driven, scientifically empty and lacking in actual healthcare goals the Biden administration’s push for gender-affirming care is. And that “care” is focused on “gender identity,” not actual transgender children. 

First, Becerra followed in Supreme Court nominee Ketanji Brown Jackson’s footsteps and could not provide a simple definition on what a transgender child is. 

“A child in America is a child in America,” he said. 

Then Becerra showed he did not know what mastectomies, penectomies, and hysterectomies are off the top of his head. He also refused to say whether HHS have funded such operations on minors. “I could use the help of my wife who is an OB-GYN,” Becerra said with a laugh. 

A hint to the secretary: Those are the surgeries involved in sex change operations. 

In order, they are surgeries for removing breasts, penis reduction or removal, and removing the uterus. If the head of Health and Human Services did not know about penectomies, which are rare, he at the very least should have known about the other two because breast cancer and uterine cancer have been health crises for adult women in this country. 

More alarmingly, Boebert then went on to point out the following from the “Gender-affirming Care is Trauma Care” document, released by the National Child Traumatic Stress Network in association with the HHS:

“In this document, you clearly state that gender-affirming care includes puberty blockers, hormones and surgeries for minor children. You go on to assure parents that there is no scientifically sound reason to doubt that hormones and surgeries are helpful to minor children,” she said. 

“You also discuss in this document that the potential for removing children from their parents is on the table if they’re not providing gender-affirming care. Mr. Secretary, do you think that parents who believe in two genders only should have their children removed from them?”

The chairman of the Budget board, Rep. John Yarmuth, D-K.Y., moved to block Becerra from answering. 

But Becerra answered anyway, saying: “Congresswoman, I believe in supporting transgender youth. I believe that they along with their parents and caregivers will make the best decisions. And I would really urge politicians like you to stay out of their business.” 

But you don’t know what a transgender child is, Secretary Becerra.

Becerra’s answer was the kind of political answer we’ve seen too much of in recent years. They are designed to make it seem like people who are asking reasonable questions are bigots when the opposite is true. It is Becerra who has no interest in actually supporting transgender children and their parents. 

The HHS has released other documents on “gender-affirming care” in recent months, showing its neglect of and attack on children and on women. 

The agency’s Office of Population Affairs released a document titled, “Gender-Affirming Care and Young People,” outlining the kinds of “care” that are available to young people, such as “gender-affirming” restrooms and pronouns, which the document states can be used at any age. 

On March 2, the HHS Office on Civil Rights released a guidance saying that pursuant to Section 1557 of the Affordable Care Act, any health care provider who does not treat patients in accordance with their gender identity could be investigated. 

That guidance equates gender identity with discrimination on the basis of sex. 

“Section 1557 protects the right of individuals to access the health programs and activities of recipients of federal financial assistance without facing discrimination on the basis of sex, which includes discrimination on the basis of gender identity,” the agency stated. 

To sum up, like many other horrible things happening in our society right now, the people who are in power under Joe Biden’s presidency are not only incompetent but want to hide that by focusing on the sexuality of children. 

Why is the HHS even talking about “gender-affirming care” and not simply caring about the health of children, which has been under attack and wrecked by COVID lockdowns, mask mandates, even talk of vaccines for 5-year-olds and even toddlers? Why is the HHS also not concerned about the vaccine’s effect on adult women, and the trauma that women who were pregnant and giving birth experienced during lockdown? 

There is breathtaking incompetence and corruption in the health care industry and public health at this point. And the question, from the OCR guidance, is also how much the Affordable Care Act under President Barack Obama allowed the corruption to get this out of control.