Republicans push for investigations in wake of Missouri transgender clinic whistleblower allegations

Missouri officials have called for an investigation into a transgender clinic after a whistleblower’s report claimed that the facility’s treatments were “morally and medically appalling.” 

“We take this evidence seriously and are thoroughly investigating to make sure children are not harmed by individuals who may be more concerned with a radical social agenda than the health of children,” Missouri Attorney General Andrew Bailey said Friday, calling the allegations “disturbing.”

Bailey revealed that he had heard the allegations two weeks earlier, but that he had waited until the report’s publication to announce any public action, the St. Louis Post-Dispatch reported. 

Sen. Josh Hawley, R-Mo., also announced that his office was launching an investigation as he slammed the “sickening amount of forced sterilization and child abuse” allegedly occurring at the Washington University Transgender Center. 

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“Missouri children deserve to be protected,” Hawley wrote on Twitter. He noted that the institution receives federal taxpayer funds.

Washington University has also opened an investigation into the allegations, saying it was “alarmed” by Reed’s allegations. 

“We are taking this matter very seriously and have already begun the process of looking into the situation to ascertain the facts,” the university wrote.

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Jamie Reed, 42, wrote an extensive tell-all for The Free Press in which she detailed the “morally and medically appalling” treatments provided to children, often without fully explaining the full effects both physically and mentally. 

Reed worked at the clinic between 2018 and 2022 after working for the Washington University infectious diseases division, helping HIV-positive teens and young adults. At the Transgender Center, she was responsible for patient intake and oversight.   

Reed described herself as a queer woman who is “politically to the left of Bernie Sanders” and married to a transgender man. 

In her piece, Reed alleged that the center had a shocking lack of formal protocols for treatment and that instead of providing mental health treatment to children in need, the clinic gave children puberty blockers or cross-sex hormones and regularly referred minors for gender-transition surgery.

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Reed claimed that one minor received a mastectomy and months later wanted the procedure undone, while another minor received a prescription for Bicalutamide, a medication used to treat metastatic prostate cancer that can enlarge breasts but also cause liver damage. 

“By the time I departed, I was certain that the way the American medical system is treating these patients is the opposite of the promise we make to ‘do no harm.’ Instead, we are permanently harming the vulnerable patients in our care,” she wrote.

When she attempted to speak out at the hospital and push back on protocols and medical diagnoses, Reed was given below-average performance reviews and reprimanded by higher-ups. During a company retreat, the doctors scolded Reed and her colleague, telling them to stop questioning the science and their authority.

An administrator later told them to “get on board or get out.”

While Reed revealed that nearly everyone had advised her against speaking out, she chose to go public anyway, saying that “what is happening to scores of children is far more important than my comfort.” 

Fox News Digital’s Nikolas Lanum and The Associated Press contributed to this report.