August 10, 2026
The Debate Over Gender Medicine Points to a Deeper Question: What Are Doctors For?
“The physician who heals for nothing is worth nothing.”
In a recent media appearance, the WNBA star Sophie Cunningham smilingly confirmed her belief that biological males should not compete in female sports; last week, two former NBA players announced their intention to try out for the 2027 WNBA draft. Seemingly in response, WNBA Commissioner Cathy Englebert sent a memo to the league on Friday on the topic of “transgender athlete participation in women’s basketball,” promising that it “will be discussed further by a task force of team presidents and general managers,” according to ESPN. Whatever the conclusions of her task force, it appears that debates over gender identity will be with us for some time.
Many of the arguments are unfolding in the courts or legislatures. In July, the House Judiciary Committee advanced the Chloe Cole Act, whose stated purpose is to “provide a private right of action for children and the parents of children whose healthy body parts have been damaged by medical professionals practicing or participating in certain interventions.” Cole, a political activist, received a double mastectomy at the age of fifteen due to a diagnosis of gender dysphoria and has since “detransitioned” (that is, returned to living as a female) and filed a lawsuit against the doctors who handled her medical care. Cole’s case is of a piece with a growing number of lawsuits against doctors who have performed cross-sex procedures on minors, including Layla Jane, who received a double mastectomy at the age of thirteen. In February 2026, a young woman was awarded $2 million in a malpractice lawsuit related to a double mastectomy she received at the age of sixteen.
These are not the only examples of the legal battle over transgender medicine: in June 2026, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC), along with several U.S. states, filed a lawsuit against the World Professional Association for Transgender Health (WPATH), alleging that its recommendations regarding pediatric medical transitions “misled parents and children about the medical consensus and medical necessity, as well as the safety and effectiveness, of such services.” In August 2026, five federal workers filed a class-action lawsuit (Doe v. Kupor) against the Trump administration, challenging the Office of Personnel Management’s policy excluding “gender-affirming care” from federal health-insurance plans. The list goes on.