CNN: Rev. Paul Brandeis Raushenbush Responds to Trump's Religious Liberty Commission
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Analysis
Tracking Trump's executive orders: Gender-affirming care
Executive Order 14187: Protecting Children From Chemical and Surgical Mutilation
Date Signed: January 28, 2025
Key Provisions:
- Executive Order 14187 asserts that gender-affirming care is a “radical and false” practice that harms children, refers to different forms of care as “mutilation,” and claims these forms of care are a “stain” on American society
- Executive Order 14187 seeks to block hormone treatments, puberty blockers, and procedures aimed at changing one’s appearance from being performed on transgender people under the age of 18
- This aims to undermine the merit and credibility of the World Professional Association for Transgender Health, a non-partisan and professional organization made up of medical professionals, by labeling it as “junk science”
- Executive Order 14187 directs the Department of Justice to investigate states and pharmaceutical companies that provide gender-affirming care to minors
Interfaith Alliance Counterpoints:
- Interfaith Alliance has consistently supported the LGBTQ+ community and honors the intrinsic value of all trans and non-binary individuals, especially by acknowledging their right to access gender-affirming health care. Interfaith Alliance is deeply alarmed at the Trump Administration’s efforts to delegitimize the lived experiences of trans youth.
- We believe that medical decisions should be made by patients and their families, and the federal government is not entitled to strip away this freedom. We also oppose the harassment of medical professionals who provide gender-affirming care to families who seek it.
- The language used in this EO, including “sterilization,” “mutilation,” and regret at the inability to have and/or breastfeed children is deeply offensive. This language not only erases the vast body of research supporting the validity of trans experience, but further stigmatizes life-saving gender affirming care.
- It is our moral duty as citizens to be fully informed, and this includes respecting the expertise of trusted sources and organizations. The World Professional Association for Transgender Health has long been an institution that has held up the rights of trans people, publishing reports based on science and research, and should not be disregarded as “junk science” just because the research they publish does not align with the views of President Trump.
Transcript
The Trump Administration’s Latest Attacks on Muslim Community Leaders
After months in detention, we finally received the good news that Ohio chaplain Ayman Soliman was released from jail as the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) dropped his deportation case. Soliman was an interfaith chaplain at a children’s hospital and a longtime leader of the Ohio Muslim community with deep ties to interfaith work across the state. As ProPublica reported, Soliman’s asylum status was restored and his application for a green card was revived. This news came through the dedicated hard work and advocacy of many organizations, particularly CAIR-Ohio and his colleagues at the Cincinnati Children’s Hospital, who were fired for speaking out on his behalf.
Mahmoud Khalil’s deportation case has alarming implications
Earlier this year, during the holy month of Ramadan, ICE agents followed Columbia graduate student Mahmoud Khalil home after he broke his fast and forcibly detained him without a warrant. Khalil, a Palestinian activist, was then disappeared into an unmarked vehicle and taken to an unknown location as his pregnant wife watched and pleaded for information. It was later revealed that Khalil had been moved to a detention center in Jena, Louisiana, where he faced deportation. He was held for over three months in poor conditions, missing his graduation and the birth of his first child.
True Religious Freedom Means Protecting Our Faith Leaders, Not Detaining Them
In early July, Ayman Soliman, a former Cincinnati Children’s Hospital chaplain, was detained by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) after his asylum status was terminated in June. In response, local faith leaders organized a prayer vigil, rally, and peaceful march; during the march at least 15 protesters were detained by local police and charged with felony rioting.