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MADISON, WI (WSAU) – According to records obtained by the Daily Caller News Foundation, the University of Wisconsin-Madison has approved a $600,000 grant from the Wisconsin Partnership Program for a study that will look into the use of puberty blockers on minors and if usage can result in “lasting changes” in the brain.
Dr. Joan Jorgenson, a professor of Comparative Biosciences, Dr. Walid Farhat, a professor of Urology at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, and Dr. Anthony Auger, a professor of Psychology at UW, are conducting the study after the grant was initially proposed to the university back in April.
Minors can already receive hormone therapy from the university’s gender clinic and The LGBT Health and Wellness committee at UW currently adheres to the American Academy of Pediatrics policy, which states that changes caused by puberty blockers are reversible. However, the new documents obtained by the Daily Caller show that the study gives the hypothesis that “short-term” transgender treatments will cause “lasting changes” in behavior, internal organs, and the brain.
One of the study’s main points involves the drug Leuprolide, which is one of the key drugs used to suppress the natural puberty process. The Cleveland Clinic says the drug has historically been used to castrate sex offenders and treat patients with prostate cancer and also says that Lauprolide has been linked to several side effects that should be reported to a healthcare professional immediately, such as trouble breathing, chest pain, depression, or memory disorders, and severe allergic reactions.
One of the researchers, Dr. Wilid Farhat, acknowledged that there is “severely lacking” research on the effects of using cross-sex hormones and puberty blockers, despite major medical associations like the American Academy of Pediatrics claims that the hormones are reversible and that children as young as 10 can safely take them, according to the Daily Caller.
The Wisconsin State Assembly and Senate did pass a bill in October that would’ve banned transgender surgeries for minors throughout the state. It was vetoed by Gov. Tony Evers, in the end, saying in a statement that the ban “harms LGBTQ people and kids’ mental health.”
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