Help, Not Harm in Wisconsin

"So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them." Genesis 1:27

From the beginning, God designed two distinct sexes: male and female. As part of our culture’s radical attempt to overthrow God’s design, our culture has rejected God’s clear design of man and woman. And, tragically, this radical movement has not just focused on mature adults, it has also preyed on the innocence and naivety of children, permanently mutilating them and defacing God’s design.

Gender Dysphoria Epidemic

Gender dysphoria in children is an exploding phenomenon—especially among children. Between 2017 and 2021, the number of children with gender dysphoria almost tripled.[1] While radicals pressure society to “affirm” these children’s feelings, keep them from any counseling encouraging them to accept their birth sex, and rush them into hormone “therapy” and gender reassignment “surgeries,” the statistics show that most children will outgrow their gender dysphoria. A study conducted by the American Psychiatric Association suggests that as many as 88% of gender-dysphoric girls and as many as 98% of gender-dysphoric boys will desist if their biological integrity is affirmed.[2] Why would we put children through irreversible “treatments” that will permanently sterilize them and increase their risk of cardiovascular disease, high blood pressure, heart attack, blood clots, stroke, diabetes, and cancer[3] for a mental condition that they will more than likely naturally outgrow?

Help Not Harm

We need to adopt policies that will help children rather than harm them. That’s why Wisconsin Senator Cory Tomczyk and Representative Scott Allen introduced SB 157 (AB 104), Help not Harm. This bill prohibits puberty blockers, cross-sex hormones, and gender transition surgeries for minors. “Children who struggle with gender identity deserve help, not harm,” explains Rep. Allen. “There are too many studies that show the harm of these procedures, and there are too many stories of young people regretting their transition later. We need to help minors by giving them the inherent blessing of time.”[4]

While opponents to the bill argue that delaying transition will cause gender dysphoric children to commit suicide, increasing amounts of research say otherwise. Psychologists Dr. Michael Bailey (Northwestern University) and Dr. Ray Blanchard (University of Toronto) write, “The best scientific evidence suggests that gender transition is not necessary to prevent suicide. . . . There is no persuasive evidence that gender transition reduces gender dysphoric children’s likelihood of killing themselves.”[5]

Children deserve the right to grow up without their bodies being permanently mutilated. Children’s brains are simply not mature enough to make life altering decisions; the decision-making part of their brains will not fully develop until the age of 25. If we have agreed as a society that minors are not mature enough to vote, smoke cigarettes, take out loans, or even buy cough suppressants, then why can’t we also agree that minors are not mature enough to consent to sterilization, unnecessary “treatments” with lifelong side effects, and the removal of healthy body parts?

Children struggling with gender dysphoria often deal with other mental health struggles such as anxiety, depression, and suicidal ideations. In addition, many gender dysphoric children are survivors of sexual, physical, and psychological abuse. In one study published by the National Library of Medicine, 73% of transgender adolescents reported that they had experienced sexual abuse.[6] We are only beginning to understand the impact childhood trauma has on mental health disorders like gender dysphoria. These children deserve care that will help them heal instead of permanently mutilating them and leaving them with lifelong regret.

Former transgender woman Walt Heyer now seeks to help those struggling with regret after undergoing transgender “treatments.” He says, “You will hear the media say, ‘Regret is rare.’ But they are not reading my inbox, which is full of messages from transgender individuals who want the life and body back that was taken from them by cross-sex hormones, surgery and living under a new identity. After de-transitioning, I know the truth: Hormones and surgery may alter appearances, but nothing changes the immutable fact of your sex.”[7]

Embracing God's Design

While the radical leftist agenda teaches children with gender dysphoria that they must undergo life-changing “therapies” and surgeries in order to embrace their bodies, as Christians, we have a different message: God created us perfectly. Although our bodies bear the marks of life in a fallen world, we can come to a place of acceptance and thankfulness for the way that He created us. Regardless of a person’s feelings, God’s creation should never be mutilated. Given the truth of God’s design and the overwhelmingly negative results of these “treatments,” it is neither loving nor kind to promote “gender affirming care”—especially for children.

“Affirming a mistaken identity—through new names, pronouns, hormones, or surgery—is not loving or compassionate,” explains Wisconsin Family Action Legislative Director, Sam Krebs. “True love seeks the authentic good, which means confronting reality, not supporting falsehoods. Medical interventions like ‘gender-affirming care’ use harmful means to promote untruths, especially when applied to children. While kids with gender dysphoria deserve kindness and respect, they need guidance to embrace the truth of their bodies, not harmful experiments like puberty blockers. In the interest of protecting their well-being, we must help them address underlying issues, such as trauma or societal pressures, and reject ideologies that distort reality.”

Children deserve to know the truth and to be given care that aligns with the truth. Help not Harm is one step on the road to a Wisconsin where children can grow up whole and know the truth about their bodies.

After the sixth day of creation when God looked at His completed world and His perfect design of humanity, He saw that it was “very good.” God’s design is good, very good. Children should be encouraged to embrace His design, not mar it.

Help not Harm has passed through the Wisconsin Assembly and is now waiting to be voted on in the Senate.