Oregon has been handing out cross-sex hormones to children like Halloween candy, and the one thing we were promised — that it would save lives — turns out to be a lie backed by the state's own data.
But sure, we're the monsters for asking questions.
According to a study published in Research Connections by Oxford University Press, researchers analyzed nearly 900,000 adolescents ages 8-17 using a database covering roughly 80% of insured Oregonians. The findings are staggering, between 2016 and 2023, nearly 1% of those kids were diagnosed with gender dysphoria. Three-quarters of them were girls.
Of the girls diagnosed, 22% were put on puberty blockers or hormones. For boys, it was 28%. Boys were three times more likely to be on blockers at 17%, while 19% of girls and 22% of boys were placed on cross-sex hormones.
Roughly 1-in-240 girls in Oregon were put on testosterone. About 1-in-630 boys were put on estrogen. Oregon's rate for 14-to-15-year-olds is four to five times the national average. Even by age 17, the state still runs two to three times higher than the rest of the country.
Nationally, about 1-in-1,000 minors are on cross-sex hormones — 140 girls per 100,000 on testosterone, 82 boys per 100,000 on estrogen. Oregon blows those numbers out of the water.
Gender medicine journalist Ben Ryan noted that "it is perhaps unsurprising that the state should have what appear to be disproportionately high rates of prescribing of gender-transition treatment to minors." Unsurprising indeed — Oregon practically rolled out a welcome mat.
And here's the part that should end the debate forever.
Canadian economist Yuan Zhang, founder of the Evidence Bridge nonprofit, reviewed Oregon Health Authority data and found that suicide-related ER and urgent care visits held steady at 4,500 to 5,500 annually throughout the study period. More hormones. Same suicide numbers. Zhang put it bluntly: "At the population level, these trends do not show an obvious corresponding decline in suicide outcomes."
Even more devastating, Zhang added: "It is, from an ecological level, access to 'lifesaving' gender affirming care has no impact on suicide."
No impact. Zero. The entire argument — "your child will kill themselves if you don't consent to this" — just got torched by the numbers.
Mary Gray, Director of Research Methods and Design at Comagine Health, helped analyze the insurance database. Manhattan Institute researcher Leor Sapir has been among those raising alarms about the quality of evidence behind pediatric gender medicine. And it's not just American skeptics. A Curia poll found 56% of New Zealanders oppose hormone interventions for minors, with only 23% in support. Among younger adults, 61% support a ban versus just 19% opposed.
The rest of the world is pulling back. The United Kingdom pulled back. Finland conducted a three-decade study and pulled back. But Oregon kept the gas pedal floored.
Meanwhile, reality is catching up everywhere. Cleveland Clinic agreed to allocate $2 million for detransition care and paid a $308,000 combined penalty in a DOJ settlement. Texas Children's Hospital got hit with a $10 million penalty. HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has made pediatric gender medicine a priority. The 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals and the ACLU are battling it out in the courts.
They told parents their kids would die without these drugs. They weaponized compassion to silence anyone who pushed back. Oregon went all-in on the experiment — and the results are in.
More hormones. Same heartbreak. The "lifesaving" label was never about saving lives. It was about shutting you up.
