Former Children's of Alabama associate professor of pediatrics and UAB LGBTQ+ Mental Health & Wellness Clinic specialist Morissa Ladinsky is now at Stanford University.
1819 News previously spoke with Ladinsky about the gender-affirming care she was providing to children in Alabama. She admitted to advising medical providers not to tell parents of patients who "come out" to them and said children as young as three years old may feel they were born the wrong sex. She likened puberty blockers to clothes shopping, claiming it isn't permanent, and kids can "try it on."
Ladinsky felt political pressure after Alabama's ban on gender-affirming care. She led a lawsuit in 2022 against Gov. Kay Ivey, which was dropped four days after it was filed.
Now, she is in California and continues to speak on behalf of pediatricians who provide "gender-affirming care."
RELATED: UAB doctor: Transgender teen 'boldly ended her life'
After the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) announced a series of proposed regulatory actions to end the practice of sex-rejecting procedures on children, Ladinsky told ABC News that, despite information that this type of care can be dangerous, many youth can face risks if they do not receive it.
"Right now, such an action would place many, many youth at an incredibly higher risk than they already face of harm," Ladinsky said. "How would doctors pivot? The hope is that mainstream, evidence-based, medically necessary care is not used to threaten doctors with criminalization. Doctors will come together and always continue to stand up for children."
Alabama's Vulnerable Child Compassion and Protection Act makes it a felony for doctors to provide minors with puberty blockers, cross-sex hormone treatments or surgeries for gender transition.
Ladinsky's new title at Stanford is clinical professor of pediatrics.
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