El-Sayed Defends Child Sex Changes, Flaunts Medical Credentials

Abdul El-Sayed wants you to focus on the credentials. In a clip making the rounds, the Michigan Senate candidate leans hard on the idea that “whole a--” doctors should be making decisions about transgender treatment for kids, not lawmakers. It is a cute bit of swagger, and it is also a dodge. “Trust the experts” is not an argument when the question is whether a child should be put on a medical path that can change their body for life.

The part Democrats keep skipping is that this is not a debate about an adult doing what they want. It is about minors, parents, schools, and clinics, and a culture that has moved fast and gotten sloppy. Plenty of “whole” doctors have signed off on things they later regretted, and plenty of institutions have circled the wagons rather than admit uncertainty. Government already “interferes” in medicine all the time when kids are involved. We call it guardrails.

El-Sayed is running for the U.S. Senate, not a hospital board. So when he says keep the government out, he is really saying voters should stop asking hard questions. That is rich from a party that loves regulation when it is cars, stoves, small businesses, or your health insurance plan. But when it is a controversial set of treatments for children, suddenly it is hands off and don’t you dare look too closely. If you’re so confident, you don’t need profanity and credentials to sell it.

Michigan parents are not asking for a medical theocracy or a witch hunt. They are asking for humility, transparency, and lines that make sense for kids. Republicans have been right to push back on the rush to normalize irreversible decisions before a person is old enough to buy a beer. If El-Sayed wants to run on this, fine. He should stop hiding behind white coats and tell people plainly what he supports, at what ages, and with what limits.