Under pressure from the Trump administration, UPMC last month canceled the gender-affirming surgery of a transgender adult (“Officials, activists rally for transgender rights, call on UPMC to provide gender-affirming care to minors,” April 3, TribLive). As medical students, we find this decision abhorrent.
In our classes, we learn about evidence-based medicine. We learn to follow the science, even if the conclusions drawn by studies go against our preconceived notions. We also learn to follow the tenets of ethics, including beneficence and autonomy.
This decision defies all these principles. Forcing a patient to wait for surgery that they and their care team know will be beneficial and that is supported by research denies them the ability to make choices for their own body and causes unnecessary suffering. Furthermore, this decision raises troubling questions for the future. What happens if in a year the presidential administration forbids care for those under the age of 25? What if they ban it entirely? Will hospital administrators require doctors to consult political figures for every routine medical treatment ad infinitum?
As students, we call on legislators to protect the rights of transgender patients and all patients to receive the care they need, and for hospitals to do their duty to the communities they serve.
Lizzie Dakan
Oakland