FLASHBACK: Justin Amash Supported Federally-Funded Transgender Surgeries for Military
Shane Trejo
|
When self-proclaimed constitutionalist Rep. Justin Amash (R-MI) endorsed impeachment of President Donald Trump, it shocked many conservative Republicans to see the former tea party favorite join in the Democrats’ witch hunt.
But Amash’s left-ward drift has been a long time in the making. One egregious example in recent years was Amash’s support of federally-funded elective surgery for transgenders in the military.
In 2017, Amash joined 190 Democrats and a handful of liberal anti-Trump Republicans to reject a proposal by Rep. Vicky Hartzler (R-MO) to deny federal funds for the elective surgery of military personnel claiming they are transgender.
“We must confront these challenges by ensuring our defense dollars maximize the military’s readiness and lethality,” Hartlzer said. “That is why I’m offering an amendment to advance these goals by prohibiting taxpayer dollars from funding gender reassignment surgeries and related hormone therapy treatment for members of the military and their dependents.”
The measure could have saved up to $3.7 billion over the next decade by refusing to indulge these potentially mentally ill individuals with genital mutilation surgery and other health care services pertaining to their condition. The supposed fiscal conservative voted in effect to expend federal funds on this social project.
After feeling the heat from his constituents regarding this vote, Amash first passed the buck, blaming former Defense Secretary James Mattis to his support of military transgenderism.
“Sec. [James] Mattis and the White House urged us not to adopt Hartzler Amendment [and] all the administration wants is three months to review everything,” he said.
The administration never confirmed Amash’s statement. It does not seem plausible that Amash, who has emerged as the top opponent to Trump in the Republican Party, would take orders from his White House.
Always talking out of both sides of his mouth, Amash seemed to endorse the idea of federally funding transgender medical care when addressing his followers on social media.
“Those who serve in our Armed Forces deserve the best medical care,” Amash wrote on his Facebook account. “One question we must ask and answer, with the aid of the medical community, is which treatments are medically necessary and which are simply elective. With respect to transgender persons, we should focus on the best science, not the political or philosophical opinions of partisans.”
Other times Amash has worked with Democrats have included his vote against Kate’s Law, his voting down of a resolution condemning illegal immigrants voting in elections, and his protection of Planned Parenthood funding with Obama-esque ‘present’ votes.
Two primary challengers have already announced that they will be battling against Amash next year to be the Republican U.S. Congressional nominee in Michigan’s third district.
Share: