The mantra of equality is stuck on repeat. We see it in discussions of race, class, wealth, employment, and gender. The latest campaign in this faux struggle doesn’t deal with equality among “established” genders, but in the reassignment of genders.
The push for a government definition of equality by way of medical procedure has arrived in the arena of the ridiculous.
In 1981, a ban was placed on Medicare covering certain procedures considered experimental, such as sex change surgery. On Friday, May 30, 2014, that ban was lifted.
“…now most medical groups, including the American Medical Association and the American Psychological Association, consider it a safe option for those suffering from gender dysphoria, a condition that is characterized by intense discomfort — or “incongruence,” according to the official definition — with one’s birth sex. On Friday, the independent board…said that medical studies published over the past three decades showed that the grounds for exclusion of coverage are “not reasonable” anymore and lifted the ban.”
Somewhere between 1981 and present, the desire to achieve equality for others through (still) controversial medical procedures became acceptable. This lifted ban does not only cover those under Medicare, but as Time reported: “It comes at a time when states are beginning to prohibit insurance companies from including specific exclusions for treatments related to gender transitions.”
So not only is government health insurance pushing this medically-dubious “equality”, but it is coercing private insurance companies are as well.
In the same Time article, a concluding thought in the National Transgender Discrimination Survey was cited stating: “The high costs of gender-related surgeries and their exclusion from most health insurance plans render these life-changing … and medically necessary procedures inaccessible to most transgender people[.]”
The decision came from the Department of Healthcare and Human Services, under the direction of the Obama administration. Quietly, the ruling came down while medical decisions, or lack thereof, involving the V.A. took top billing in the medical news of the moment. With procedures such as these seen as “medically necessary”, how could conflicting opinions even be accepted? Establishing necessity for procedures once regarded as superfluous ushers in a forceful requirement of acceptance for anything that is branded as something to which another may contribute, either physically or psychologically.
In so many ways, it is brave new territory. This new wave of inclusion was precipitated by a 74-year-old veteran, and transgender woman, whose desire for genital surgery led to the decision that now allows Medicare to cover such a procedure. This forced equality through medical procedure reveals that adapting to progressive society’s requirements is a trend that the medical community leans toward. Conversely, receiving a “blessing” from a respected community of professionals indicating the once controversial procedure of sex change is not only safe, but needed, lends a sought after credibility to the transgender community. Push back against one of these sides, and you’re either not educated enough to make such assumptions, or not compassionate enough to grow along with an evolving society. This ruling demonstrates that established medical associations, such as the AMA and APA, are becoming an undisputed gateway through which social change, branded now as medically appropriate, is being funneled. The legitimacy of indefensible equality is being propped up and funded, and ultimately applauded by progressives.
Ultimately, this is an extension of society’s desire to make equal that which cannot be equal. The moral superiority of their supposedly righteous fight is covered by a gimmicky, elitist, and cruel glaze. They deem an expensive, politically-charged procedure necessary for those desiring special treatment while those waiting for basic care are forgotten.