ALTOONA – State legislators, medical professionals, and advocates discussed the potential lifelong harm caused by allowing minors to undergo gender transitioning operations during a public hearing of the Senate Majority Policy Committee hosted by Sen. Judy Ward (R-30) and chaired by Sen. Dave Argall (R-29).
“Today’s hearing was eye opening and highlighted the damaging practices that are being done to children,” said Ward. “I want to commend the testifiers for their courage to speak out in defense of our kids. The testimony they shared will serve as call to action for those in the legislature to enact legislation, such as the Do No Harm Act, to ensure that no more children are harmed.”
Dan Bartkowiak, the chief strategy officer of the Pennsylvania Family Council, discussed how Right-to-Know requests submitted to the Pennsylvania Department of Health show that from 2015 to 2023, nearly 5,000 people aged 18 or younger received taxpayer-funded services related to sex reassignment and transition-related services and drugs. During this timeframe, more than $21.8 million was spent on these services. The annual cost to taxpayers has sharply increased, rising from $58,919 in 2015 to $5,149,694 in 2023.
On January 28, 2025, President Donald Trump issued an executive order which states “it is the policy of the United States that it will not fund, sponsor, promote, assist, or support the so-called ‘transition’ of a child from one sex to another, and it will rigorously enforce all laws that prohibit or limit these destructive and life-altering procedures.”
Simon B. Amaya Price described his experience of transitioning, saying, “I experienced emotional manipulation and malpractice from my doctors, one of whom asked my father ‘would you like a dead son or a living daughter’ while I was in the room.” He went on to describe how this message, which is not backed by evidence, contributed to his personal feelings on his gender identity. Three years later, Price realized his problems were unrelated to gender identity and detransitioned.
January Littlejohn, a senior fellow at Do No Harm, shared the story of her daughter, who began experiencing distress over her sex at age 13. During her family’s research on the subject, she was shocked to discover that there was no high-quality evidence that medical transitioning interventions produced positive outcomes.
Dr. Kurt Miceli, the medical director of Do No Harm, described how a review of publicly available insurance data found 316 children received sex reassignment surgeries in Pennsylvania between 2019 and 2023. He also referenced a review of gender identity services that found “no good evidence on the long-term outcomes of interventions to manage gender-related distress.” This review led to the United Kingdom banning puberty blockers for minors.
“It’s difficult for me to understand how we could expect children to make informed decisions about these life-changing procedures,” said Argall. “Thank you to Sen. Ward for leading the charge on this important issue and fighting to protect children in Pennsylvania.”
Ward announced that she will soon introduce the Do No Harm Act to prohibit minors from receiving irreversible gender transitioning procedures. The legislation would also prevent taxpayer dollars from being used for this purpose.
CONTACT: Jim Brugger (Argall)
Nathan Akers (Ward)