Blocked Puberty-Blocker Study Must be Released
Eagle Forum is calling on the National Institutes of Health (NIH) to release a study — paid for by taxpayers — that is being blocked for political reasons. Last month, the New York Times reported that the study on the effects of puberty blockers on minors was being withheld because of “politics.”
“It is unconscionable that taxpayer-funded research is being hidden because the results do not conform to the political agenda of the authors. The Left is clearly terrified that the NIH study on puberty blockers will reveal the lies and coercion behind their belief that chemically altering children’s natural development is good for their mental health. Our children have been experimented on for far too long, and it needs to stop. Dr. Olson-Kennedy’s attempts to hide the truth about puberty blockers is unethical and puts children and their families in extreme danger,” explained Eagle Forum President Kris Ullman.
“We appreciate the Members of Congress who are demanding that the research be released. We applaud their aggressive investigation into the politicized actions of this doctor. As the Supreme Court prepares to hear United States v. Skrmetti, a case dealing with the Tennessee state law that bans puberty blockers and cross-sex hormones, withholding research on the effects of these drugs should outrage all Americans.”
Last month, a nine-year study on puberty blockers came to light through reporting from the New York Times. This study, funded by the NIH, gave 95 children medication to prevent the natural process of puberty. The researchers were hoping to replicate a similar Dutch study in which the researchers claimed their patients’ mental health improved. That, however, was not the case in this NIH study.
Originally, the lead doctor conducting the study, Dr. Johanna Olson-Kennedy, claimed that a quarter of the children were depressed or suicidal at the start of the study. However, when her results showed no improvement in the mental health of her subjects, she claimed the children were well when they began the study. Believing that those on the Right will use this study to ban puberty blockers, she refuses to publish the results.
This study cost taxpayers nearly $10 million and damaged dozens of children to prove the results we already know: forcing children to take puberty blockers is abuse. For years, the Left has told parents that if they did not trans their kids, they kill themselves. The same doctor published a study last year showing a high rate of suicide among children who receive cross-sex hormones, yet her team still prescribes these types of medications for kids. The unpublished study exposing their lie is being held under wraps for political reasons.
Numerous elected representatives have sounded the alarm and are demanding the full research be made public. House Healthcare and Financial Services Subcommittee Chairwoman Lisa McClain (R-MI) sent a letter to NIH Director Monica Bertagnolli as part of her subcommittee’s oversight investigation. Representative Gary Palmer (R-AL) and nine colleagues have penned a letter to the NIH Director and Dr. Olson-Kennedy requesting all documents regarding the research. Additionally, the House Energy and Commerce Committee chaired by Rep. Cathy McMorris Rodgers (R-WA) is launching an investigation into these actions.
“We are calling on Congress and the President to force the NIH to release the complete study and all taxpayer-funded research. We the People have the right to know what research is being done with our money, the procedures being used, and the results found — free of political considerations,” Ullman concluded.
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Eagle Forum was founded by Phyllis Schlafly, a dynamic and charismatic leader who inspired countless women and men to participate in the process of self-government and public policy-making so that America will continue to be a land of individual liberty, with respect for the nuclear family, public and private virtue, and private enterprise. For nearly fifty years, Eagle Forum’s network of state organizations has led the charge to mobilize the grassroots to defend the founding principles of the United States.
