There is much to unpack in this Substack essay by Jennifer Lahl (MA, BSN, RN), President, and Kallie Fell (MS, BSN, RN), the Executive Director at The Center for Bioethics and Culture.

They are writing about the Queering of medicine and its threat to all patients. Still, there is an example that sums up the entire enterprise: how the new medical near-orthodoxy threatens the next generation by exalting the individual desires of pregnant women (yes, they are all women) while deprioritizing the health of the offspring.

It sums up in microcosm the entire enterprise, which has spawned such horrors as the “healthy at any size” claims.

Trans activists now say that we should affirm pregnant trans-identified females with testosterone even if it causes permanent damage to the baby. As I've been arguing for years, trans ideology is narcissism made into a religion. Everything and everyone must be sacrificed on the… https://t.co/929ZwDw7r2

— Matt Walsh (@MattWalshBlog) July 18, 2023

First, a bit about Queering itself, which goes far beyond the embrace of transgenderism. At its foundation, it is a form of transhumanism, which is about transcending biology and our essential humanity through the force of human will and desire. It presents what appears to be a utopian vision where we can each express our will without limits. You already see around you some aspects of this ideology, some more threatening than others, but all based upon the same notion that nature and social norms are oppressive.

Think about the people who are modifying their bodies, turning themselves into simulacra of demons, cats, or indeed members of the opposite or no sex at all.

We are at the earliest stages of transhumanism, crudely trying to overcome nature’s limitations. But the progress will be both inevitable and by intention dehumanizing. Science fiction often depicts transhumanism as desirable, and indeed some promises seem very desirable, including the possibility of immortality, at least of some kind (inside computers, for instance).

But the downsides rarely get discussed: dehumanizing human beings eliminates the connections we have with each other because we are the same species and can feel empathy for each other in a deep way.

For instance, from the essay I am riffing off, comes this tidbit among others.

The authors, a group of transgender sociologists and enthusiasts, and healthcare activists, with not one medical degree among them, argue to dramatically move the goal posts of medical ethics, choosing to completely disregard the health, safety, and well-being of the developing fetus, all in the name of “trans” inclusion. Abiding by their paper’s guidance would land us in a vacuum devoid of medical ethics and a seismic shift away from the importance of scientific research and medical evidence in favor of activist directed healthcare.

The authors argue that “gendered” pregnancy care is too focused on helping women have healthy babies, and that it might be okay for transmen to continue taking testosterone during pregnancy despite the known health risks to the fetus and effects on its normal development. The desire for “normal fetal outcomes,” according to the authors, is rooted in a problematic desire “to protect their offspring from becoming anything other than ‘normal’” and “reflect historical and ongoing social practices for creating ‘ideal’ and normative bodies.”

This is the logical outcome of the alphabet/Queer ideology. Not just its narcissism, but rather its rejection of the idea of norms as important. Think ablism, for instance, which is a critique of the idea that it is better to be healthy and whole than disabled. A recognition that being fully able is not a denigration of disabled people–it is a call to help them reach their fullest potential as with everybody. But the ideology pushes a new vision: the rejection of the idea that we are fully functional or disabled because these are invented and oppressive standards.

Every standard is oppressive. This means that there is no definition of health or illness, but rather desired states or not. In the case of pregnancy, the issue is whether the person requiring treatment wants one thing or another, not whether one outcome or another is more desirable in itself.

This applies to all decisions, including medical decisions. Want to die? Fine. Want an arm chopped off? Sure thing. There is no such thing as a mental illness because what you think is the only authority. If you will it, it is desirable.

In a sense “healthy at any size” just means “Healthy” is an oppressive term. If you like it, go for it. And everybody including doctors must affirm it.

You absolutely should read the article and think about it, not just in terms of transgenderism and pregnancy, but in terms of the underlying assumptions which extend indefinitely into every aspect of society. The basic concept is simple: a Triumph of the Will.”  And once life becomes about asserting will, there is no standard of adjudication between competing views. At some point, it will become a battle of the will, because in real life nobody stops trying to define only themselves, but everything around them.

Think transgender people demanding we conform to their own concepts. In order to “be who they truly are” everyone else must become what that individual wants them to be.

Transhumanism becomes antihumanism because the life of the transhuman is incompatible with human beings acting like human beings.

“Queering” of everything is a direct assault on all norms and ethics, whatever its proponents claim. It is not a subset of libertarianism; it is inherently oppressive itself, as it demands we all bend to the will of others. There can be no compromise because any dissent from their fantasy can be a death blow to that fantasy.

And as you can see, its invasion into science and medicine is already a fair way accomplished. That means the affirmation of “trans” is a direct threat to your own health.