When the American taxpayers are paying for these treatments under the guise of a National Institutes of Health-funded study funded by millions of taxpayer dollars, that's quite a different kettle of fish.

That is, nevertheless, what is happening, with the NIH handing over a $5.7 million grant to permanently alter kids in the guise of "research."

The study, which was funded through a $5.7 million NIH grant disbursed in 2015, paid scientists to administer puberty blockers to two cohorts of children, one older and one younger, to study the physical and psychosocial impact of the drugs. Dr. Johanna Olson-Kennedy, one of the researchers working on the project, recently admitted to withholding the results of the younger cohort because she believed it would be weaponized to advocate against the use of puberty blockers. 

While the results of the study have not been released to the public, recipients of NIH grants are required to submit progress reports to the agency regarding the state of their research. Sens. Bill Cassidy (R-LA), Tommy Tuberville (R-AL), Ted Cruz (R-TX), James Lankford (R-OK), Markwayne Mullin (R-OK), and Mike Lee (R-UT) have asked the NIH to turn over each annual progress report provided to the agency by researchers working on the project, according to a copy of a letter obtained by the Washington Examiner. 

Note above: Dr. Olson-Kennedy was, as I wrote in October, afraid that releasing information on this study would be "weaponized."

See Related: Release of Prolonged Study on Puberty Blockers for Transgender Kids Blocked for Political Reasons

I noted at the time:

I don't like to critique a study I haven't examined myself. But the reluctance on the part of the researcher - who is, again, an advocate - to release the results of his study is telling. This isn't how science works. Transparency is essential in science; and even more so when the American taxpayers are picking up the tab. 

These researchers should be given a choice: Release your data or have any and all taxpayer grants rescinded. We have a right to see what the real results are.

Now we see more details; two cohorts of children are being administered treatments here. The first group is in "early puberty," which would make them (I'm presuming) from 10 to 12 years of age. The second is "older adolescents," which could include kids from 12 to 15. These kids are all receiving irreversible, damaging, and sterilizing treatments.

The study will include youth from two age groups: younger children in early puberty, who will receive hormone blockers, called GnRH agonists, used to suspend the process of puberty — preventing the development of undesired secondary sex characteristics; and older adolescents, who will begin use of masculinizing or feminizing cross-sex hormones that allow them to go through the ‘right’ puberty — consistent with their gender of identification.

Your tax dollars at work.

No matter how old these kids are or what the treatments are, we must remind ourselves that these "subjects" are children. It's possible some of them genuinely suffer from gender dysphoria, which has been a known disorder for many years and has historically been treated with therapy, not chemical castration. It's much more likely that many of them have been taken in by a social contagion and sucked into this study by a "researcher" with an agenda. This isn't science. This is the opposite of science. This is working backward from a conclusion to prove a socio-political point, and there is no reason whatsoever that the NIH should be funding this.

Several states have passed laws banning this practice, and as my colleague Bonchie notes, there was a Supreme Court argued this week over this issue. And boy howdy, have some of the liberal justices passed out some real corral litter during oral arguments.

See Related: Supreme Court Hears Oral Arguments on Trans 'Treatments' for Kids, and Things Get Absolutely Wild

Bonchie writes:

It didn't take long for things to get pretty wild. While it was expected that the left-wing justices would look for any way to bolster the discrimination argument, some of the things they said were patently insane. For example, Justice Sonia Sotomayor, often cited as the dumbest member of the court (which will be challenged momentarily), claimed that "gender-affirming care" was fine for kids because, and I quote, "Every medical treatment has risk. Even taking aspirin."

Justice Sotomayor is comparing these damaging treatments to taking aspirin. What a crock of horse squeeze. This entire issue seems to drive some people beyond the bounds of reason and good sense.

It comes down to this: In this NIH-funded study, an abomination is being performed on American kids at taxpayers' expense. This is something that Robert F. Kennedy Jr. needs to look into when he takes over as United States Secretary of Health and Human Services, as the NIH is a subordinate agency to HHS. This is also something that Elon Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy should look into as the DOGE starts to take bites out of the federal Colossus. One way or another, this kind of thing has to stop.

And, of course:

The NIH did not respond to the Washington Examiner’s request for comment.

You don't say.