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CNN host disputes lawyer arguing trans kids don't understand long-term consequences: 'Some of them do'
By Lindsay Kornick
Published December 05, 2024
CNN’s Brianna Keilar argued Wednesday that some transgender kids can fully comprehend the possible long-term effects of gender transition treatments like sterility or increased risk of heart attacks.
Alliance Defending Freedom president Kristen Waggoner spoke to Keilar about the Supreme Court hearing oral arguments in U.S. vs. Skrmetti, a case involving Tennessee’s ban on puberty blockers and transgender surgeries for minors. ADF is a Christian legal organization that is representing other states with similar cases.
Despite the topic being about trans minors, Keilar repeatedly tried to claim, "It‘s not just the kids that ADF is focused on," but also trans adults, which Waggoner denied.
The host also asked, "Do you ever consider that these anti-trans laws and stances may not age well?"
CNN host Brianna Keilar pressed ADF president Kristen Waggoner on a recent Supreme Court case involving a ban on transgender treatments for children. (CNN screenshot)
"I think a lot of people are confused about this issue," Keilar continued. "They don’t know where they stand on it. But where’s the room for a conversation about this?"
"And I love that we’re having one right now in terms of a conversation and that‘s what was at issue today. Because the ACLU and the Biden administration has taken this issue to the U.S. Supreme Court and said there is no room for this debate," Waggoner said.
Waggoner called out the ACLU and the Biden administration for trying to "constitutionalize all of American life" by claiming there is a constitutional right for children to get transition procedures, adding that kids are likely unaware of future adverse effects.
"What kid, what girl knows whether she‘s going to want to have a baby long-term or what testosterone will do to her uterus, or that she will increase her risk of heart attack by taking some drugs?" Waggoner asked.
"Some of them do," Keilar interjected.
"No, no…" Waggoner responded, shaking her head.
"None of them? None of them do?" Keilar said.
Activists for and against trans rights protest outside the U.S. Supreme Court before the start of the United States v. Skrmetti case on Wednesday, December 4, 2024. (Bill Clark/CQ-Roll Call, Inc via Getty Images)
"What we know from the science, and again, it‘s about not putting ideology over evidence. And that‘s what‘s happening here. 85% of all kids that are able to grow through puberty, who say they're gender confused, over 85% of those kids live at peace with their bodies and consistent with their sex. In those children that are put on puberty blockers, the science tells us that you‘re putting them on a one-way treadmill to live as the opposite sex for the rest of their life, and they will still experience being a lifelong patient," Waggoner answered.
Waggoner also told Fox News Digital, "It’s radical to suggest that children can consent to dangerous procedures that stop the normal and healthy development of their bodies and often result in irreversible and tragic consequences. While common sense tells us this, so does the science. Evidence-based medicine should trump gender ideology."
Waggoner's "CNN News Central" segment came the day after trans ACLU lawyer Chase Strangio, who argued the case in front of the Supreme Court Wednesday, acknowledged that minors cannot consent to these kinds of procedures.
ACLU lawyer Chase Strangio appeared on CNN's "The Lead with Jake Tapper" Tuesday. (CNN screenshot)
"What‘s happening here is not the kids who are consenting to this treatment. It‘s the parents who are consenting to the treatment," Strangio said Tuesday. "And as a parent, I would say, when our children are suffering, we are suffering. And these are parents who love their children, who are listening to the advice of their doctors of the mainstream medical community and doing what‘s right for their kids, and the state of Tennessee has displaced their judgment."
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