Penna Dexter
Members of the medical and psychological communities who advocate gender transition as a treatment for disturbed young people start them on puberty blockers as the first medical step. This sounds drastic — and permanent. But the World Professional Association for Transgender Health (WPATH) publicly claims the effects of these drugs are “fully reversible.” Some of those folks know better.
In a recent Breakpoint commentary, John Stonestreet and Jared Hayden point out that puberty blocking drugs are often presented as a way “for gender-confused teens to ‘push pause’ on puberty and buy more time to find out who they are.”
It’s naive to believe that taking drugs that stop the development of a young person’s sexual organs is “fully reversible.” Stopping the drugs after a few months or years will not bring back the time that God ordained for that child to grow physically and emotionally.
Heading up the list of physical consequences of puberty blockers is osteoporosis. The Breakpoint hosts point to a recently-leaked video from a 2022 WPATH certification seminar. Dr. Daniel Metzger, a WPATH-certified pediatric endocrinologist told his audience: “Normally puberty is the time of putting the calcium into your piggy bank.” Those bones won’t catch up.
As is often the case when one searches Google about anything medical, the Mayo Clinic shows up near the top. This happened when I searched for “Harms from Puberty Blockers.” But “possible side effects” don’t show up until page 4 and 5 of Mayo’s 6-page document, where it states: the drugs “also might have long-term effects on growth spurts, bone growth, [and] bone density.”
The Mayo document advises: “Yearly bone density and bone-age tests may be advised.” It suggests “calcium and vitamin D supplements.”
The Mayo piece lists one more long-term effect: “Fertility, depending on when the medicine is started.”
A heartbroken grandmother at my church told me she’s praying her grandson will decide not to take this step. These are serious drugs. We must start saying so.

Kerby Anderson
Many Americans say they are living on the edge of a financial disaster. Is that merely perception, or is it reality? Although government officials cite some positive trends in the economy, the reality in people’s lives is different.
This year, Bankrate asked the same question as last year. If you had an emergency expense of $1,000 or more, could you pay for it? Once again, a majority (56%) of US adults said that expense would be too great of a hit to their savings. Because they did not have savings to fall back on, a third (35%) said they would borrow the money or finance with a credit card or turn to friends or family.
Inflation is one reason for this financial dilemma in the lives of Americans. Two-thirds (63%) of US adults say inflation is causing them to save less for unexpected expenses, while nearly half (45%) say the same of rising interest rates.
Americans don’t keep much money in their bank accounts. The GOBankingRates survey found that nearly half of Americans have $500 or less in their savings account. About three in ten (29%) had between $501 and $5,000 in their saving account. And two in ten (21%) of Americans have $5,001 or more.
Social media is full of anecdotal stories illustrating how prices are rising faster. A TikTok video that went viral was a woman’s receipt from Taco Bell 12 years ago. The old receipt showed that, 12 years ago, Americans could buy two beefy five-layer burritos for $2.59 including taxes. Today that same burrito costs $3.69 for just one, and that doesn’t even include taxes.  Other stories show the rising cost of rent, car insurance, and utilities.
Government officials may say the economy is doing fine, but millions of Americans are living on the edge.