Following pressure from GOP state officials, in March 2022, Texas Children’s Hospital publicly announced that it would no longer be offering transgender drugs and surgeries to minors. This was a lie. Behind closed doors — and away from public scrutiny — the hospital continued its medically dubious regimen.
We know this thanks to Eithan Haim, a courageous resident surgeon who leaked evidence of the hospital’s subterfuge to City Journal’s Christopher Rufo. In a matter of days, Haim’s whistleblower testimony prompted Republican state legislators to pass a bill outlawing the use of transgender drugs and surgeries in pediatric medicine.
Not everyone was grateful for this public service.
In June 2023, the day Haim was set to graduate from the hospital’s residency program, two federal agents showed up at his home and informed him that he was a potential target in a criminal investigation relating to medical documents. Concerned that he was being targeted for political reasons, Haim came forward with his identity and the Biden administration’s investigation of him.
It wouldn’t be the first time this administration has wielded executive power to intimidate its political opponents and cultural enemies: Pro-life Americans, traditionalist Catholics, and vaccine skeptics come to mind.
Haim’s instincts were correct. Earlier this week, Rufo revealed that the 33-year-old surgeon has been indicted on four felony counts of violating the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA).
Based upon the publicly available information, we have no reason to believe Haim violated HIPAA. Both Haim and Rufo insist that sensitive information was redacted in the documents they exchanged; it was redacted from what Rufo published.
Worldwide, whistleblower testimony has played a key role in blowing the lid off the transgender medical scandal. In the U.K., it was clinicians at Britain’s main gender-youth clinic who alerted journalists to the lack of evaluation and follow-up among minors being put on the transgender conveyor belt. Their tip in turn led to the Cass report which led to a desperately needed overhaul of transgender health-care policy. The World Professional Association for Transgender Health (WPATH) — a trans activist organization notorious for making unsubstantiated arguments from authority — was similarly exposed when its internal documents were leaked from the group’s private forums.
Of course, if transgender clinical activists were transparent in the first place, exposing their doublespeak wouldn’t be necessary. But in the absence of evidence, transgender ideology must lurk in the shadows to survive.
The press and the legal elite, who typically celebrate and valorize whistleblowers and undercover journalists, suddenly insist on treating them as criminals when they shed light on topics such as abortion and transgender surgery. That double standard reflects fear of sunlight.
Even if Haim is eventually cleared, with vindictive prosecutions, the process itself can be the punishment. David Daleiden’s indictment in Texas was eventually dropped, but nine years after he began exposing Planned Parenthood with undercover videos, he’s still tied up in court and facing a pending criminal trial in California. Haim could face the same daunting path. When the Left captures institutions, those who dissent can face legal expenses, reputational damage, and harassment. All of which can deter those who might otherwise come forward.
Who is the real villain here: the hospital secretly inflicting irreversible damage on children or the doctor brave enough to speak out? We think the answer is obvious.