Military with transgender connections see NDAA provision as ‘slap in the face’

[Jessica_Rose]

Military with transgender connections see NDAA provision as 'slap in the face'

https://www.msn.com/en-us/health/other/military-with-transgender-connections-see-ndaa-provision-as-slap-in-the-face/ar-AA1vGRgL?ocid=windirect&cvid=0ff493d664b148ec9eba477810757f20&ei=60

Story by Brooke Migdon (11 Dec 2024)

Military veterans, families and active-duty service members with transgender children say a provision added to Congress's annual defense policy bill targeting some medical treatments for trans minors is a "slap in the face" rooted in misinformation and misunderstanding about the trans community.

The provision... would prevent TRICARE, the military's health program, from covering gender dysphoria treatments "that could result in sterilization" for children under 18.

During a news conference on Tuesday, Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) touted the provision barring TRICARE coverage for gender-affirming care for youth as a win "for our troops and for our country."

In a statement on Sunday, Johnson said "woke ideology" had infiltrated the military, and "permanently banning transgender medical treatment for minors" would help restore its focus on "lethality."

An Air Force chief who asked to be identified only by his first initial because he is actively serving said he saw no link between the provision and restoring the "lethality" of U.S. armed services.

"As someone who has served for over 20 years now and is involved in the decision-making process at senior levels for the morale, health, welfare, training, readiness and equipping of service members to prepare them to go to war — or, in certain cases, while in conflict — I cannot link those two things," the Air Force chief, "J," told The Hill.