Special Alert

The Cass Review

A major independent review of evidence regarding "gender-affirming care" (GAC) for minors commissioned by the British National Health Service (NHS) has been published to immediate and widespread effect.

The Cass Review—a comprehensive collection of sources, evaluation of research, and clinical recommendations—does significant damage to transgender activists' case that GAC is medically and psychologically beneficial to those with gender discordance.

NHS England issued this response to Dr. Hilary Cass, who chaired the review: "Your final report will not just shape the future of healthcare in this country for children and young people experiencing gender distress, but will be of major international importance and significance."

NHS England, NHS Scotland, Belgium, and the Netherlands (origin of the "Dutch protocol" that kicked off much of GAC in the first place) have already reversed direction on puberty blockers as a result of the Cass Review's recommendations.

The medical establishment in the United States has been silent, as it awaits the findings of a systematic review currently underway by the American Academy of Pediatrics, roughly estimated to be published by the end of 2025.

Everybody has the inherent capacity to generate new life. That act of generation only has a limited range of possibilities.

Advocates of gender theory suggest that sex is better understood as a spectrum instead of two possibilities. In this thinking, someone might be closer to one side of the spectrum, closer to the middle, or closer to the other side. It's usually implied that the ends of the spectrum are "masculine" and "feminine", but they rarely define what those labels mean.

Their arguments typically ignore the basic factor that decides sex: whether someone is organized to generate new life within the self or within another. There's no in-between answer to that question.

Dignitas Infinita

The Vatican's Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith published Dignitas Infinita, on human dignity. The document covered a wide range of topics, including a clear defense of the human person as a body-soul composite in response to gender theory. Quotes are given below with emphasis added:

"Another prominent aspect of gender theory is that it intends to deny the greatest possible difference that exists between living beings: sexual difference. This foundational difference is not only the greatest imaginable difference but is also the most beautiful and most powerful of them. In the male-female couple, this difference achieves the most marvelous of reciprocities. It thus becomes the source of that miracle that never ceases to surprise us: the arrival of new human beings in the world."



"It is in the body that each person recognizes himself or herself as generated by others, and it is through their bodies that men and women can establish a loving relationship capable of generating other persons."

"It won't change anything."

Are Public Comments Effective?

When federal agencies propose rules about how to enforce laws, they have to accept comments from the public for a certain window of time. People outside the nation's capital often doubt the effectiveness of public comments, assuming that the agency will just ignore the unsupportive comments.

A recent article highlights the successes of public comments in changing harmful rules proposed by the current administration. Even when the change isn't immediate and the harmful rules go into effect, the public comments are still helpful when the rules are challenged in federal court. Harmful rules are judged more harshly when public comments warned in advance of their ill effects, which will hopefully be the case with the recent distortions of the Pregnant Workers Fairness Act and Title IX.

Legal/Policy Updates

Biden Administration – The Bad News: The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission announced a rule for enforcing the Pregnant Workers Fairness Act, intended to provide workplace protections for pregnant mothers, that would distort the act to cover abortion-related accomodations.

The Department of Education issued rules in its implementation of Title IX, that "sex discrimination" would include discrimination on the basis of "sexual orientation and gender identity". The ruling applies to any educational institution receiving federal funding. Shortly after, three states filed a lawsuit against the administration to challenge the new rules.

Courts – The Good News: The Supreme Court allowed an Idaho ban on GAC for minors to go into effect, mostly overturning the ruling of a lower court.

The Supreme Court declined a petition from pornographers to block Texas's age verification law, which allows the state to prevent pornography websites from reaching minors.

A Catholic snowboarding coach received a $75,000 settlement from the Vermont high school that fired him after he had a conversation with students about the unfair advantages of female-identifying boys competing in girls' sports.

The Bad:The 4th Circuit Court of Appeals overturned a West Virginia law banning female-identifying boys from competing in girls' sports, citing it as a violation of Title IX's sex discrimination statue (seemingly not connected to the Department of Education's recent rule).

States – The Good: Kansas and Georgia became the ninth and tenth states to pass age verification laws protecting minors from online pornography, a move that will likely cause Pornhub and other harmful sites to shut down operations in both states. A similar bill made progress toward passage in Oklahoma's legislature as well.

Tennessee's legislature advanced a bill that would protect adoptive and foster parents from discrimination by the state's Department of Children Services on the basis of their beliefs regarding "sexual orientation and gender identity".

The Bad: The governor of Kansas vetoed bills banning GAC for minors and criminalizing coerced abortions. The Republican legislature intends to override the vetoes.

Sports – The Good: The National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA) banned female-identifying men from participating in women's sports. The NAIA encompasses 241 member schools and is a separate organization from the NCAA.

National Eucharistic Congress

The National Eucharistic Congress is approaching fast! The renewal of faith in the real presence of Jesus in the Eucharist is underway, and you can be a part of it. 

Get your tickets now for the centerpiece of the ongoing Eucharistic Revival, happening in Indianapolis July 17-21.

For more information about the congress and how it fits into the broader revival, click here!