U.S. Rep. candidate Kelly Cooper (R-AZ-4), left, Gov. Katie Hobbs (D-Ariz.), center, and Vice President Kamala Harris | X / Facebook
U.S. Rep. candidate Kelly Cooper (R-AZ-4), left, Gov. Katie Hobbs (D-Ariz.), center, and Vice President Kamala Harris | X / Facebook
U.S. Congressional candidate Kelly Cooper (R-AZ-4) said a new report showing taxpayers spent more than $100,000 on 'sex change' procedures on children in Arizona shows federal and state governments have been "derelict" in their duty to "properly steward" tax dollars.
"It is the sacred responsibility of your government to properly steward your tax dollars," Cooper told SE Valley Times. "Both the state and federal government have been long derelict in this duty."
"This is just another example of that dereliction," said Cooper. "I don't believe the majority of taxpayers would be happy with this use of their money."
A U.S. Marine veteran, Cooper is a restaurant owner and founder of the Maricopa County Republican Veterans Club.
His comments are in response to a Grand Canyon Times report that taxpayers spent more than $100,000 for “irreversible sex change interventions” on children in Arizona via managed Medicaid between the years 2019 and 2023.
That’s according to a national database released today of hospitals and medical facilities “administering irreversible sex change interventions on children in the United States” by the organization Do No Harm.
The database shows that hospitals in Arizona saw 243 minors who were “sex change patients,” including 78 total surgery patients. These hospitals administered “hormone and puberty blockers” to 168 total children, and wrote 1,412 prescriptions. In all, it totaled $1,721,239 in total submitted charges.
Five of these interventions were paid for by the managed Medicaid program for a total of $108,708.
Do No Harm said the database “catalogs pediatric sex change-related services, including surgeries, cross-sex hormones, and puberty blockers, at U.S.-based medical facilities between 2019 and 2023.”
The data represents sources including “claims clearinghouses, data aggregators, payors, health systems, CMS, and multiple open data sources,” according to Do No Harm, and includes data from commercial insurance, Medicaid, Medicare, and VA claims.”
Phoenix Children's Hospital saw 86 “sex change” patients, who were children, from 2019 to 2023, according to the Do No Harm database, including one surgery patient and 86 total “hormone and puberty blocker” patients. There were 886 total prescriptions written. In all, it amounted to $121,713 in total submitted charges.
Founded in 1983, PCH is a pediatric medical center located in Phoenix. The hospital provides specialized care in areas such as cardiology, neurology, oncology, and orthopedics. It operates several outpatient centers across the state and is affiliated with the University of Arizona College of Medicine. The hospital also conducts research and offers medical education programs for healthcare professionals.
The hospital has a "Gender Support Program" that provides "outpatient services for transgender and gender-expansive children and youth," according to the PCH website, which says the program provides "mental health therapy, occupational therapy, adolescent medicine, and pediatric endocrinology."
PCH was "indirectly involved in a lawsuit brought against the state on behalf of three transgender children," reported The Daily Wire in 2022.
"The children’s guardians sued the state to force it to change the birth certificate of each child to reflect the gender each now identifies as, rather than their biological sex," said the news report.
Patrick Goodman, husband to Gov. Katie Hobbs (D-Ariz.), works at PCH as a mental health therapist and, reported The Daily Wire, was "identified as a therapist to one of the children involved in the lawsuit."
"In one document dated November 9, 2020, Goodman was identified as a potential witness in the case, expected to testify on the child’s treatment," said the news report. "Goodman was to testify in relation to Jane Doe’s request for a preliminary injunction to force the state to change the child’s birth certificate ahead of the start of the school year."
U.S. Sen. Mark Kelly (R-Ariz.) voted against legislation in 2023 to ban Tricare, the healthcare program for current and retired military members and their families, from covering hormone therapy, puberty blockers, and other similar medical interventions on children, reported the New York Post.
That vote came three years after Kelly hosted an online summit with Tami Stass, the head of the "Arizona Trans Youth & Parent Organization" (AZTYPO), an organization that "supports a range of radical transgender beliefs, including letting children 'at any age' receive a range of puberty blockers, surgeries, and drugs if they believe they are not the correct gender, supporting parents in custody battles to keep a child from a parent who does not believe a child should transition, and advocating for insurance to cover a child’s reassignment surgery," reported Breitbart.
The issue of taxpayer funding of these procedures has gained national attention as Democrat presidential candidate Kamala Harris, who is in a dead heat with former President Donald Trump in Pennsylvania, has openly advocated for "transgender" surgeries for illegal immigrants and prisoners.
In all, hospitals in Arizona saw 243 minors who were “sex change patients,” including 78 total surgery patients. These hospitals administered “hormone and puberty blockers” to 168 total children, and wrote 1,412 prescriptions. In all, it totaled $1,721,239 in total submitted charges.
Chloe Cole, a senior fellow at Do No Harm, said the database “proves the lies from the medical establishment and radical politicians who argue that cases like mine are rare.”
A 20-year-old woman who said that she had “gender dysphoria” was given “puberty blockers,” testosterone and had a double mastectomy at age 12, Cole has since “de-transitioned” and supports bans on the chemical castration of minors. Cole joined Arizona State Sen. Janae Shamp (R-Surprise) at a February press conference during which Shamp introduced a bill, SB 1511, that would require insurers and providers of chemical castration drugs and surgeries to also provide and cover “de-transitioning” procedures.
Hobbs vetoed that bill in June.
“The stats in this database represent thousands of kids who are being treated like Guinea pigs for unproven, and sometimes dangerous, medical experiments,” said Cole. “I hope politicians and parents alike use this database to see where these treatments are happening and protect their children from being rushed into irreversible, life-altering treatments.”
Nationally, 13,994 children received sex change-related treatments between 2019 and 2023, according to Do No Harm’s database. This includes 5,747 sex change surgeries performed on children, and 62,682 hormone and puberty blockers prescriptions written for 8,579 pediatric patients.
“At least $119,791,202 made from sex change treatments performed on minors,” reported the organization.
Which Arizona Hospitals are Performing these "Irreversible Sex Change Interventions"?
Source: StoptheHarmDatabase.com
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