TUCSON, Ariz., Aug. 16, 2023 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- On August 2, 2023 the New Jersey Board of Education (NJBOE) adopted, in a narrow 6 to 5 vote, new rules framed as amendments promoting “Equity in Education.” A letter from the Association of American Physicians and Surgeons (AAPS) urges the board to immediately reverse the amendments.
“Among other changes, the approved amendments attempt to redefine and even erase the terms ‘male’ and ‘female,’” the letter states.
“The amendments are not based on science, but instead on ever-changing sociological ideas and political influence,” AAPS writes. Adopting policies that ignore that there are two sexes, male and female, risks “further exacerbating harmful trends” resulting in children being pressured into “life-altering treatments that have little scientific evidence of their long-term safety and efficacy,” AAPS explains.
In the letter, AAPS also provides the NJBOE with several recent investigations, studies, and reports that explore issues of informed consent, the long-term negative consequences of puberty blockers and radical surgeries said to address gender confusion, as well as alternative options to help children facing these questions.
AAPS further informs the NJBOE that public health authorities in Finland, Sweden, the Netherlands, and England have reversed course and limited these types of interventions due to concerns about safety, efficacy, and ethics.
Another ongoing and related controversy in New Jersey is also addressed by AAPS. “[We] oppose any policies that prohibit schools from alerting parents of a minor child’s gender confusion…. [N]o information can be properly withheld from a child’s parents, particularly and especially when it comes to the medical and mental health of their children.”
The letter concludes, “we should repeal the entire equity code and move far away from the so-called diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) sociological and political movements. Let’s celebrate our differences and true diversity.”
The Association of American Physicians and Surgeons (AAPS) is a national organization representing physicians in all specialties since 1943. Its motto is omnia pro aegroto (everything for the patient).
Contact: Jane M. Orient, M.D., (520) 323-3110, janeorientmd@gmail.com
