Teens are more likely to receive a transgender-related diagnosis than Type 2 diabetes in the state of Oregon, a recent report found. The Beaver State also classifies the hormones and surgeries that come with attempting a gender transition as “medically necessary” for these teenagers, The Wall Street Journal notes. 

WSJ reported that according to the study, published in Research Connections, “at age 17, roughly 1 in every 240 girls and 1 in every 630 boys in Oregon received cross-sex hormones for ‘gender dysphoria’ between 2016 and 2023. These figures,” Leor Sapir and Paul Terdal observe, “are triple and double the national average for girls and boys, respectively. For younger children the disparity is even greater: Cross-sex hormone use in the study was four to five times the national rate among 14- and 15-year-olds, and puberty-blocker use was more than five times the national rate at age 14.”

Walt Heyer, a senior fellow at Family Research Council, told The Washington Stand that it’s damaging to children when adults enable them to adopt an alternate gender identity. Heyer spent eight years of his life identifying as a transgender female before reclaiming his God-given identity over 35 years ago. “Hormones and surgery do not change anyone’s sex, and the whole practice is fraudulent and should be criminalized.” 

Additionally, WSJ said Research Connections found that teenagers in Oregon are commonly being diagnosed with gender dysphoria. “1.51% of girls and 0.46% of boys received a ‘transgender-related diagnosis,’ almost always gender dysphoria, between 2016 and 2023. The figure for both sexes is 0.98% — 10 times the prevalence of Type 2 diabetes in this age group and only slightly lower than the share of teens who described themselves as transgender on state surveys in those years (1.18%). ... About 1 in 4 diagnosed minors in Oregon received such interventions.”

Heyer said it’s common for families and individuals seeking so-called “gender-affirming care” to move to Oregon to undergo these operations, where the policies surrounding them are more liberal in comparison to other states. Children can legally make medical decisions at the age of 15 in Oregon, despite still being minors. 

“The state of Oregon has prioritized Medicaid coverage for cross-sex hormones and surgeries, removing any cost barriers,” Heyer explained. “Teenagers from other places can move to Oregon, establish residency after six months, apply for Medicaid coverage, and get the interventions paid for by federal funding.”

Between 2019-2023, Oregon reportedly was responsible for 7% of all mastectomies to “treat” gender dysphoria in teen girls. In that time, 23 hysterectomies and three castrations were carried out, reported WSJ.

In 2015, Oregon approved Medicaid coverage for these procedures, projecting that around 175 people per year would use them and cost no more than $200,000. After one year, the price climbed above $720,000, and in 2024, it spiked to over $12 million. By 2025, 80 times the number of people originally anticipated were receiving the procedures. 

Many states have followed on the heels of Oregon, and the epidemic of transgenderism is only growing. “[Forty-one percent] of American adults say they personally know someone who is transgender,” the Human Rights Campaign reported. Washington, California, New Mexico, Colorado, Minnesota, Illinois, New York, Vermont, Maine, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, Connecticut, Maryland, and Washington, D.C. also have shield laws protecting access to “transgender care,” according to the Movement Advancement Project. Alaska, Nevada, Wisconsin, Michigan, Pennsylvania, and Virginia do not explicitly have a shield law but also have no ban on gender transition procedures for minors.

Movement Advancement Project also reported that 38% of transgender identifying minors ages 13-17 live in states that have “shield” laws protecting access to transgender procedures, while 6% of transgender-identifying minors live in states that have “shield” executive orders protecting access to the procedures.