Planned Parenthood Wants New York Taxpayers to Fund Puberty Blockers for Kids

So let me get this straight. The same organization that’s already swimming in half a billion dollars of public money every year now wants New York State to step up and cover the tab for puberty blockers and cross-sex hormones for minors. Because the federal government apparently had the audacity to pull back, and Planned Parenthood of Greater New York thinks you and I should dig a little deeper.

I have questions for the manager.

NY DMV. (Public domain) via Wikimedia Commons

Here’s what Planned Parenthood’s own website lays out, plain as day. They offer estrogen and anti-androgen therapy. Testosterone therapy. Puberty blockers. Surgery referrals. All under what they call an “informed consent model,” which is a fancy way of saying they don’t think they need to run it past anyone else before handing out hormones. And select Planned Parenthood health centers in New York are already providing hormone therapy to 16- and 17-year-olds. Sixteen. I’ll let that sit there for a second.

Now they’re telling News10 that New York needs to fill the funding gap left by federal cuts. Translation: the money spigot got turned down in Washington, so they’re knocking on Albany’s door with their hand out, and they expect the rest of us to smile and write the check.

Since when did “health care” expand to include permanently altering a teenager’s body with drugs that block puberty? A 16-year-old can’t rent a car, can’t vote, can’t buy a beer, and in plenty of places can’t even use a tanning bed without a parent signing a form. But Planned Parenthood’s informed consent model says this kid is ready to make decisions about hormones that could affect fertility, bone density, and the rest of their life? And we’re the ones who are supposed to be unreasonable for asking about it?

jarmoluk / Pixabay

Planned Parenthood of Greater New York’s own Out for Health page is practically a recruitment brochure. They’ve got LGBTQ+ Health Navigators standing by. They’ll help you update your IDs. They’ll connect you with support groups. They’ll refer you for surgeries. They’re a full-service operation, and now they want the state of New York to be their silent partner in the minors division.

And here’s the part that really gets me. They announce this right before Pride month, when every corporation in America is slapping a rainbow on their logo and reaching for your wallet. Planned Parenthood says gender-affirming care is “safe, legal, and accessible” in New York. Well, lots of things are legal. That doesn’t mean the taxpayers should be forced to subsidize them, and it doesn’t mean they’re a good idea for a kid whose brain won’t finish developing for another decade.

The people pushing this always frame it the same way. They say it’s about access. They say it’s about care. They never want to talk about what’s actually happening, which is a billion-dollar organization asking a state government to fund medical interventions on children with bodies that haven’t finished growing. They count on you being too polite to say anything. They count on you not wanting to be called a name.

Fairycore99 (CC0) via Wikimedia Commons

Well, I’m saying something. And I’d bet a lot of parents in New York are saying it too, even if the people running Albany aren’t listening.

You want to fund hormone therapy for 16-year-olds? Do it with your own money. Leave the rest of us out of it.