An Anchorage doctor who provides services at the Anchorage Neighborhood Health Center, a publicly funded clinic, has written to the Alaska Legislature opposing the Alaska State Medical Board’s request that legislation be passed that protects children from so-called gender affirmation treatments.

Such treatments usually start with boosting the sex-hormones of children or prescribing them hormone blockers that prevent normal puberty. Later, surgery is performed. It is in essence plastic surgery on children’s sexual reproductive organs to make them appear to be the opposite sex.

Dr. Rachel Samuelson told the Legislature that she practices this type of treatment and that it’s a positive thing for the people for whom she has cared.

The Alaska State Medical Board disagrees, and says this gender manipulation of children is bad medicine. The medical board unanimously adopted a statement urging the Alaska Legislature to outlaw chemical castration and surgical gender transition treatments for minors.

Samuelson, who works at a taxpayer-funded clinic, would not be able to perform this kind of chemistry and surgical experimentation on children, if the Legislature acts on the advice of the medical board.

Here is Samuelson’s letter to the Alaska Legislature, printed here for the benefit of parents and community members:

Dear Members of the Alaska State Legislature,

I’m Dr. Rachel Samuelson, a family medicine physician and life-long Alaskan. As a full-spectrum family medicine physician, I take care of all Alaskans, from infants to centenarians, from refugees to CEOs. I manage diabetes, heart failure, hypertension, influenza, contraception, well  child checks, and so much more.  Part of my job is providing gender affirming care to adults, which I have been doing since 2018. Though I do not have the training to provide gender affirming care to minors, I understand the importance of this care. I was really surprised and dismayed by the governor- appointed Alaska State Medical Board’s statement against hormonal and surgical care for minors. The board does not represent the general medical community, as they are appointed and not elected by their peers. They also have no experience whatsoever with gender affirming care. It seems to be a political move that is not rooted in science. There have been over 21 peer-reviewed studies on transgender youth, and all the following medical associations support access to transgender medical care as medically necessary and life-saving: The American Medical Association, American Psychiatric Association, American Academy of Pediatrics, and the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry. We know that without appropriate and individualized evidence-based medical care (along with psychological care) for minors with gender dysphoria, people have increased rates of depression and anxiety, increased suicidal ideation and suicide attempts, and decreased self-esteem and life functioning.   

In my young adult patients with gender dysphoria, I can so clearly see their lives and mental health improve with hormonal therapy.  It is truly gratifying work.  

Additionally, as you know, Alaskans have a constitutionally protected right to privacy. We do not allow the government into our clinical exam rooms.  Medical decisions need to be between the medical provider and the patient (and/or guardian if applicable). What other medical issues might the government decide they want to get involved with if we allow them into the exam room on this specific one?

I encourage you to dismiss this politically motivated statement by the Alaska State Medical Board and continue working on the other important issues making their way through the chambers of the House and Senate.“

The Anchorage Neighborhood Health Center is primarily funded through federal grants, patient fees, and private grants. As a Federally Qualified Health Center clinic, ANHC receives funding from the Health Resources and Services Administration, which provides grants to support healthcare services to those “underserved” residents, regardless of their ability to pay. This includes operational funding and sliding fee scales.

ANHC generates revenue through patient services, such as medical, dental, and behavioral health, mostly through Medicaid and Medicare.

On Jan. 28, President Donald Trump signed an executive orderer banning child sexual mutilation. Trump’s EO states that “it is the policy of the United States that it will not fund, sponsor, promote, assist, or support the so-called ‘transition’ of a child from one sex to another, and it will rigorously enforce all laws that prohibit or limit these destructive and life-altering procedures.”

The ANHC clinic is funded by the federal government and could be at risk of losing its funding due to the work being done there to “transition.” But the executive order has been challenged in court by the attorney general of Washington State, and thus it’s unknown how this will impact clinics like the one where Samuelson practices.