On Tuesday, the campaign of former President Donald Trump announced that, if elected, his new administration will make it a felony to perform gender affirming surgeries on minors without parental consent.To protect our children from sexual mutilation, we will make it a felony for any medical professional to perform surgery on a minor without parental consent, the campaign reportedly stated in a prepared speech for a rally in Howell, Michigan. Related Cis boys get gender-affirming surgeries more often than trans minors The study flies in the face of right-wing talking points. From prepared remarks:I am announcing today that I will be asking for the DEATH PENALTY for child rapists and child traffickers.And to protect our children from sexual mutilation, we will make it a felony for any medical professional to perform surgery on a minor without Reese Gorman (@reesejgorman) August 20, 2024 Your LGBTQ+ guide to Election 2024 Stay ahead of the 2024 Election with our newsletter that covers candidates, issues, and perspectives that matter. Subscribe to our Newsletter today This announcement was one along with several others for Trumps speech. However, it was not announced at the actual rallyinstead, the announcement came from a full speech being revealed to select reporters. It was celebrated on X by Karoline Leavitt, the former Trump administrations assistant press secretary.BIG NEWS: https://t.co/xvK2qvKf6A Karoline Leavitt (@kleavittnh) August 20, 2024 Currently, there is no evidence that such procedures take place. Gender-affirming surgeries for minors are exceedingly rare, with such procedures most commonly done on cisgender boys with gynecomastia, a disorder that leads to unwanted breast development.However, in every case of a gender-affirming surgery done on a minor, it is done with parental consent and heavy parental involvement in the childs gender transition.Trumps speech also highlighted several other policy positions, including his stance that child rapists deserve the death penalty automatically.I am announcing today that I will be asking for the DEATH PENALTY for child rapists and child traffickers, the prepared speech allegedly states.It is unclear what purpose the death penalty serves. Scientific evidence suggests that it is not an effective deterrent for crime. Additionally, according to the criminal justice reform group The Innocence Project, 4% of all death penalty convictions are against innocent people, many of whom are people of color.The proposal is part of Trumps general policy stance depicting the Harris administration as weak on crime. Theyre just weak on crime, Trump said last week of the Harris campaign during a Pennsylvania rally. They dont mind if somebody murders somebody. They dont want them to go to jail. You can kill somebody now. They do a lot of bad things, and we have to win this election because crime statistics are a disaster.Whether the Harris campaign is weak on crime is largely a subjective belief. However, there is no evidence that crime rates have increased during the Harris administration. In fact, they have been on a steady decline the past few years.If re-elected Trump has promised to ban gender-affirming care for minors nationwide and prohibit federal agencies from promot[ing] the concept of sex and gender transition at any age.