The Alaska Medical Board has paved the way for the prohibition of body-mutilating gender surgeries on minors and urged the Alaska Legislature to ban late-term abortion.
The Alaska Medical Board unanimously approved a draft regulation at its quarterly meeting last month, adding efforts to provide “medical or surgical intervention to treat gender dysphoria or facilitate gender transition by altering sex characteristics inconsistent with the biological sex at birth” to a list of actions that constitute unprofessional conduct.
The proposal labels the prescription of puberty-blocking drugs and cross-sex hormones and the performance of so-called gender transition surgeries, like mastectomy, phalloplasty, or genital modification on children under the age of 18 as examples of “unprofessional conduct.” The draft includes exceptions for procedures to treat “congenital sex development disorders or non-elective procedures for physical injury.”
The board, which meets four times a year, is comprised of five physicians, one physician assistant and two public members appointed by the governor and confirmed by the Alaska Legislature. The board is tasked with carrying out the state’s medical laws, making final licensing decisions and taking disciplinary action against those who violate state laws.
The draft regulation will go to the Alaska Department of Law for review and will be subject to a 30-day public comment period before taking effect, The Alaska Beacon reports. Some residents spoke against the proposal during an Aug. 22 meeting.
Tom Pittman, who leads Identity Inc., an organization that offers so-called “gender-affirming care” to minors, argues that the language “strips parents of their ability to work with trusted doctors to make the best decisions for their child.”
“It shrinks the already fragile provider network and endangers children’s lives,” Pittman said, according to The Alaska Beacon.
Currently, 27 states prohibit trans-identified youth from obtaining some or all types of gender transition procedures due to concerns about their long-term impact.
The American College of Pediatricians has warned that puberty blockers can cause “osteoporosis, mood disorders, seizures, cognitive impairment and, when combined with cross-sex hormones, sterility.” Meanwhile, the organization has noted that cross-sex hormones can cause youth to experience “an increased risk of heart attacks, stroke, diabetes, blood clots and cancers across their life span.”
In 2022, the head of the American Academy of Pediatrics clarified that her organization “advises pediatricians to offer developmentally appropriate care that is oriented toward understanding and appreciating the youth’s gender experience.” She denied claims that her organization recommends gender transition surgeries to most youth.
The Alaska Medical Board also released a statement lamenting that the state allows elective late-term abortions “up until the time of delivery.”
“This is not ethical medical practice and does not embody the values of Alaskans,” the statement reads. “Many Alaskans and even physicians are unaware of this.”
The medical board urged residents to “engage with their representatives and to advocate for new legislation to bring state law into alignment with community values on this issue.”
Following the U.S. Supreme Court’s 2022 ruling in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization, which determined that the U.S. Constitution does not contain a right to abortion, several states have taken steps to ban the procedure in all or most cases.
According to data compiled by the pro-life activist group Susan B. Anthony Pro-Life America, 21 states prohibit abortion after 12 weeks of pregnancy or earlier, while Alaska is one of the 29 states that have “few or no protections” for unborn babies.
The Guttmacher Institute, a pro-abortion think tank, lists Alaska as one of nine states that have “no ban or gestational limit” on abortion, meaning that an abortion can take place during all nine months of pregnancy. Abortion is legal in the state because the state Supreme Court has determined that there is a right to abortion in the Alaska Constitution.
The prospect of the Alaska Legislature changing state abortion laws in the near future is unlikely. While the state has a Republican governor, its legislature is controlled by a multipartisan governing coalition consisting of Republicans, Democrats and independents.
Ryan Foley is a reporter for The Christian Post. He can be reached at: ryan.foley@christianpost.com
