BY: Elizabeth Harrington
July 27, 2017
Transgender Surgeries Would Cost Pentagon $1.3 Billion
Sex-change surgeries cost an average $132,000 each
Taxpayer-funded sex-change surgeries would cost the Pentagon $1.3 billion over 10 years.
Internal data provided to the Washington Free Beacon from Rep. Vicky Hartzler (R., Mo.), a leading opponent of
taxpayer-funded sex changes, show that even by using a conservative estimate, the costs associated with 0.7 percent of the military population is great.
Hartzler's office provided a detailed calculation that shows estimates of the current number of transgender service members, and the number likely to seek a taxpayer-funded gender transition.
"The 10-year cost estimate is for surgery only and is adjusted for 3 percent inflation; it accounts for Active Duty, Guard, and Reserve members currently serving as well as new recruits over the same time period," the document states. "It uses the FY 18 DoD number for total number of military members and multiplies it by the percentage of military personnel assumed to be transgender as reported by the UCLA Williams Institute and the National Center for Transgender Equality."
It is likely even more transgender service members would seek sex reassignment surgeries if they are taxpayer-funded.More than 30 percent of transgender individuals say they want to have various sex reassignment surgeries in the future, according to the 2011 National Transgender Discrimination Survey.
Fifty-three percent of men who identify as women say they someday want a breast augmentation, and 61 percent say want an orchiectomy, the surgical removal of one or both testicles, in the future.
Sixty-four percent say they want a vaginoplasty, the construction of a vagina, someday.The $1.349 billion cost
does not include additional medical costs of transgender service members, including hormone therapy, mental health services, or costs associated with surgical complications.
Hartzler, a member of the House Armed Services Committee and chairman of oversight and investigations, praised President Trump's decision to reverse the Obama administration's transgender policy.
"Our military is the most effective, efficient, and well-funded fighting force in the world, and as the president notes,
we cannot burden our armed forces with the tremendous costs and disruptions that transgenders in the military would entail," she said. "With the challenges we are facing across the globe, we are asking the American people to invest their hard-earned money in national defense."
"Each dollar needs to be spent to address threats facing our nation," Hartzler continued. "The costs incurred by funding transgender surgeries and the required additional care it demands should not be the focus of our military resources."
In the past, Hartzler has pointed out that
for $1.35 billion the Pentagon could purchase 13 F-35 fighters or 14 F-18 Super Hornets.http://freebeacon.com/issues/transgender-surgeries-would-cost-pentagon-1-3-billion/
