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Culture War Roundup for the week of June 3, 2024

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This is a discussion and a conversation, not a debate being scored.

Never said otherwise. I just don't like when points are left unfinished. I try to respond to your questions, so please respond to mine before moving on.

And while tangents are not my favorite thing, but more or less acceptable, the appealing to principles that you do not actually hold, while using the first person plural is not.

Do you have examples of where you think doctors have lied to their patients (or the parents of their parients) in this frame?

Sure, the claim that puberty blockers are fully reversible is a straight-up lie. So was the claim that minors are required to undergo a thorough diagnostic process before they are prescribed hormones or surgeries. "Would you rather have a dead daughter or a happy son" is not a lie per-se, since it's not making a claim, but it is heavily implying something they knew for a fact that was exaggerated.

The most ethical doctor in the world who looked at all the reearch and thought, sounds like this is exactly what my patient needs is not being unethical.

What about the doctor who didn't really look at all the research, possibly because what he's prescribing is new and exciting, and there isn't even all that much research to begin with, but he's still convinced that what he's prescribing is what the patient needs? How about a doctor that commissioned research to prove he's right, but buried the results when he didn't like them, but is still convinced future research will vindicate him?

But that doesn't mean Dr Smith who is following the guidelines (but had no hand in writing them) is being unethical himself. Being unethical requires (ironically) informed decision making.

I'd say he has some responsibility to look into the subject himself. The WPATH is a self-declared authority, they have no special knowledge here, and a trained clinician should be able to pick up on the nonsense (which they tend to do, once they actually look at it). If nothing else, when parents express doubts, he has an obligation to state the level of his actual knowledge, and not oversell his confidence. That said, I kind of agree. Do like they did at Nurenberg, the chain of responsibility starts at the top, and is being progressively diminished as your work your way down.

But note that this is separate from the question of whether it is possible to be well-intentioned but unethical. I assign the biggest culpability to WPATH, but I maintain that they are well-intentioned.