Prairie State Wire

Governor for Illinois candidate Darren Bailey blasts Gov. J.B. Pritzker for his stance on parental notification for abortion and gender reassignment surgery on minors.

At the second gubernatorial debate hosted by WGN9, Bailey (R-Xenia) was asked if he would support a ban on gender-affirming surgeries for minors. Prior to that, Pritzker was asked if he would support any limitations on gender-affirming procedures or treatments for children under the age of 18 and if there should be an age limit.

"Look, I think doctors, parents and those kids are working together to determine what's best for them," the governor responded. "I think our hospitals, especially Lurie, which is one of the great children's hospitals in the entire nation are very responsible about these things. But look, I stand up for the rights of our LGBTQ community to make decisions for themselves and it is true that people who feel themselves to be transgender early on ought to talk to a doctor, ought to work with their parents to figure out what's the right thing for them."

Bailey said Pritzker's stance was wrong.  

"You believe that children at any age can make whatever decision for their health that they want to make?" Bailey asked Pritzker. "I believe parents have the best interests in mind for their children, and parents should be making that decision, not doctors or teachers or governors."

Ann & Robert H. Lurie Children's Hospital of Chicago claimed it was harassed when in reality there was a one-man protest outside. The popular Twitter account Libs of TikTok tweeted, "Unreal. Axios reported that a Chicago hospital was 'facing harassment for gender-affirming care.' Turns out the 'harassment' was one nice peaceful man standing outside with a sign." 

The tweet links to a retweet of a man who goes by Billboard Chris outside the hospital wearing a billboard that said, "Children cannot consent to puberty blockers." On his website, Billboard Chris explains that he opposes gender ideology and is having conversations across North America about it. His website says, "Children should be free to be who they are — not indoctrinated to believe they were born in the wrong body. Puberty blockers are the first step in a medical pathway that brings physical harm to children. We are lied to about the effects of these drugs, and the cross-sex hormones which almost always follow." He focused on Lurie Children's Hospital because the hospital was accused of working with local schools in Chicago to promote alternative sexual identities and lifestyles, Chicago City Wire reported.

According to Billboard Chris's website, he is the father of two girls who is taking a stand against gender ideology. 

"As the High Court in England laid out, children cannot give informed consent to these harmful, life-altering drugs," he said.

He defines gender ideology as a pseudo-religious movement claiming that children can be born in the wrong body. 

"It claims that we all have a ‘gender identity’ which takes precedence over our biological sex," the website further reads. "It is entirely based on stereotypes. Children are taught that it is their interests, hobbies, likes and dislikes which determine their gender."

Chris also describes puberty blockers, which are drugs that block puberty. They can be given to children as young as 10 to treat gender dysphoria, which is a rare condition in which children feel like they are the other gender. The long-term effects of these drugs are unknown because no studies have been done on them, and Billboard Chris passionately believes that little children should not be prescribed these drugs.

Manhattan Institute Fellow Chris Rufo has recently released documents that allegedly show that Lurie Children's Hospital "provided materials to school leaders promoting radical gender theory, trans activism and sexually explicit materials in at least four Chicago-area public school systems: District 75, District 120, District 181 and District 204." Rufo wrote that a whistle-blower said these documents were sent to teachers, administrators and staff at middle and high schools as part of ongoing employee workshops. A training document that was given to schools included “'Beyond Binary: Gender in Schools,' [which] provided an academic queer theory on the issue of gender identity which 'follows the basic narrative of academic queer theory': white, Western society has created an oppressive gender binary, falsely dividing the world into the categories of man and woman, that has resulted in 'transphobia,' 'cissexism' and 'systemic discrimination' against 'racial and sexual minorities.'" 

Lurie itself has a "Gender Development Program" which helps “youth progress through gender identity development," and it also promotes “masculinizing” girls and “feminizing” boys. Michelle Cretella, M.D., executive director of the American College of Pediatricians, has said that many doctors in her field have begun treating gender dysphoria, which until recently was treated as a mental illness, with hormone therapy, plastic surgery and gender reassignment surgery. Clinics that offer these expensive operations have increased by 2,000% over the past eight years.

Earlier this year, the Pritzker Foundation made a donation valued at $6.54 million to "support greater access to services, staff appreciation and investment in clinical research in the Pritzker Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Health at Ann & Robert H. Lurie Children’s Hospital of Chicago." This follows a $15 million gift made by the department in 2019 which led to the renaming of the department. According to the Lurie Children's Hospital website, the gift will strengthen the Department’s collaboration with the Patrick M. Magoon Institute for Healthy Communities, invest in and promote a research agenda aimed at improving the public health of children and teens, and will establish new specialty clinics for anxiety, depression and attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD).

Diocese of Springfield Bishop Thomas Paprocki said that Pritzker's repeal of the Parental Notice of Abortion Act was "evil," Prairie State Wire reported. Parents in Illinois no longer need to be notified if their child has an abortion. The bishop said in a press release, "[T]he government has provided evil the cover of darkness in which it thrives. The devil desires darkness and despises the light. It is striking how much this legislation does to provide cover, secrecy and darkness over evil deeds." 

Paprocki noted that it is illegal for minors to buy cigarettes, alcohol and tobacco, but they can get an abortion. He went on to say that child traffickers will be emboldened by this bill, and children will be put in grave danger. Bishop Paprocki has also denied U.S. Sen. Dick Durbin communion over his support of abortion.