Republican lawmakers ask health clinic to stop 'permanent gender transitioning surgeries'

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (WTVF) — In the latest in the fallout from a social media post having to do with surgeries for transgender teens surrounding VUMC's Transgender Health Clinic, Republican state representatives sent a letter Wednesday asking Vanderbilt University Medical Center directors to stop what the lawmakers say are "permanent gender transitioning surgeries being performed on minor children."

That claim appears to stem at least in part from video posted in a tweet by conservative political commentator Matt Walsh last week, showing a presentation from a VUMC plastic surgeon and a physician's assistant.

It's not clear when the presentation took place, but the presenters appear to outline when they would perform a mastectomy as part of gender reassignment, known as "top surgery." According to the presenters in the video clip included in the tweet, that includes performing that surgery on minor teens.

"We ensure the patient is capable of making fully-informed decisions on their own; they're the age of majority," said the person identified as VUMC physician's assistant Shalyn Vanderbloemen in the tweet. "However, for a lot of our younger patients, again, if they’re 16-17, here at Vanderbilt, if they have been on testosterone, have a parental consent — we’re able to do a lot of the top surgeries for those patients."

"When you have it directly from the source, and you have a particular video, that's what caught my attention as well as many of my colleagues," said Rep. Jason Zachary (R-Knoxville).

VUMC wouldn't answer specific questions from NewsChannel 5 Wednesday about whether the hospital performs top surgeries on minors with a parent's permission.

The letter gives the hospital 10 days to respond. Republican lawmakers have threatened to propose legislation that would ban underage transgender surgeries.