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Michigan Democratic U.S. Senate candidate Abdul El-Sayed said the government should not restrict sex changes, arguing that “whole a–” doctors like himself should be allowed to make their own determinations for patients’ treatment plans.
The remarks came during El-Sayed’s Friday rally held at Michigan State University, during which the former Detroit Health Department head responded to a student’s question about protecting sex changes. Since launching his campaign, El-Sayed has flaunted that he is a “physician” and, if elected, he would be the first doctor to serve as a Democratic senator in 50 years. However, Digital previously reported El-Sayed has never held a medical license in Michigan or New York.
“I went to a whole a– medical school, everybody I graduated with also went to whole a– medical school,” El-Sayed said. “And then … they went to whole a– residency. Right? And some of them went to whole a– fellowship. They took whole a– exams to provide whole a– healthcare.”
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Abdul El-Sayed (R) answers a question during a press conference at the Michigan Democratic Party State Endorsement Convention in Detroit on April 19, 2026, while communications director Roxie Richner (C) looks on. El-Sayed has never held a medical license in Michigan or New York. (Jose Juarez/AP Photo)
“They are the experts that a patient wants to see when they seek care,” El-Sayed continued. “And the decision about what healthcare is necessary ought to be held between a patient — and or their parents if they’re under the age of 18 — and their doctor. That’s it.”
The remarks come as the Trump administration has made major strides in restricting minors’ access to “sex-rejecting” procedures, which include hormone therapy and surgeries.
Earlier this week, the Justice Department announced that Mount Sinai had joined other hospitals, like Texas Children’s Hospital, the Cleveland Clinic Foundation and Connecticut Children’s Hospital, to halt sex change procedures for children after reaching an agreement with the Trump administration.
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El-Sayed has made the promise of Medicare for All — government-run healthcare — as the major selling point of his campaign; he said that even though the government will be covering the bill, it needs to stay out of the doctor’s decisions about a patient’s treatment plan.
“I don’t think the government gets to have a say about what health care is provided in what circumstances and why,” El-Sayed said. “And to me, that is the standard on which we decide how we make health care decisions.”
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A protester holds a sign in support of sex changes for transgender children outside the U.S. Supreme Court Building in Washington, DC, on June 18, 2025. (Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images)
“Not what the government says you can or can’t do, but what a patient and/or their parent, if they’re under 18, and their provider to decide. That’s the most important thing,” El-Sayed continued. “And there’s a lot of disinformation about us, what we’re talking about, when we talk about reproductive rights and when we’re talking about health care for the trans folks. But, in the end, the place where the rubber meets the rope is in that clinical room between a patient and a provider, and that to me is the center we should engage on.”
El-Sayed argued that Republicans agree with his belief that treatment decisions should be between a patient and their doctor, pointing to the Right to Try Act, which allows terminally ill patients to try experimental drug treatments that aren’t yet approved by the Food and Drug Administration after they have exhausted all other treatment options.
“Because conservatives fought for a very long time for this legislation called ‘Right to Try’ legislation, which is the idea that the government couldn’t tell you [that] you couldn’t have a certain medication,” El-Sayed said.
TRUMP ADMINISTRATION PROBE COULD UPEND WIDELY USED TRANSGENDER YOUTH TREATMENT GUIDELINES
A transgender rights supporter takes part in a rally outside of the U.S. Supreme Court as the justices hear arguments in a case on transgender health rights in Washington, DC, on Dec. 4, 2024. (Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images)
“So they agree that the decision about healthcare ought to be between the person and their provider. That’s it. So let’s use that standard, and keep to that standard, and make sure the government doesn’t have the ability to tell you what you can or cannot do with your own life,” El-Sayed said.
However, the research on the efficacy of treating individuals with gender dysphoria by allowing them to change sexes with “cross-sex” hormones and puberty blockers is limited.
The World Professional Association for Transgender Health, whose guidelines are used by leading medical associations like the American Academy of Peditatrics, is currently facing a lawsuit from the Federal Trade Commission stemming from allegations that its guidelines misled parents about the “medical consensus and medical necessity, as well as the safety and effectiveness” of sex change procedures.
The FTC has accused WPATH of failing to disclose the side effects associated with some procedures, such as patients experiencing incontinence, erectile pain, mood disturbances, pelvic pain, and vaginal pain stemming from “cross-sex” hormones.
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Meanwhile, countries that have socialized medicine have put restrictions in place for minors’ seeking sex changes. In England, the National Health Service put a pause on “cross-sex” hormones for 16- and 17-year-olds in March after finding research was “really weak” to support it.
The country already had a ban in place restricting children under 16 years old from taking sex-change hormones.
El-Sayed’s office did not immediately respond to Digital’s request for comment regarding his medical credentials.
