Transgender activists are now arguing that that the only prerequisite for surgery ought to be the simple desire of the patient to have the surgery … their wanting it.
The story comes from the New York Times with a headline, “Surgery, hormones but not happiness.” The author is a man who is going to be undergoing what is defined as sex reassignment or gender reassignment surgery.
He writes candidly: “This is what I want. But there is no guarantee it will make me happier. In fact, I don’t expect it to,” he writes. “That shouldn’t disqualify me from getting it.”
So: He’s pursuing surgery even as he acknowledges it might not alleviate pain and that it might even lead to greater pain. He’s arguing for a medical/ethical principle that this kind of surgery and any surgery should be available to an individual simply because the individual wants it.
It’s an alarming and unsustainable new standard.