Call me old school because when I think I don’t understand how cultural confusion could get any worse, it does. In earlier posts, I've been very clear that I do not identify with anything other than being a cisgender woman. I have never been attracted to other women or struggled with feeling like I am in the wrong body. I am not criticizing those who have experienced or are living under the strain of that experience. I am simply sharing my confusion and heartache for the rapid decline of what it means to be a created human being in God's image.

   That being said, I am referring to the not new, but new to me, the transabled conversation. After reading several articles from various sources and physician comments, I'm shrugging my shoulders and shaking my head. 

    Let me back up with the definition of transabled. *Transabled is a newer term for BIID, or “Body Integrity Identity Disorder,” in which a person actually “identifies” as handicapped. BIID has been relabeled to trans-ableism to align with today’s trans community, according to some. The point of “changing the identifier” from a psychiatric condition (BIID) to an advocacy term “(transableism) is to “harness the stunning cultural power of gender ideology” to the cause of allowing doctors to “treat” BIID patients by “amputating healthy limbs, snipping spinal cords or destroying eyesight,” according to Evolution News and Science Today (EN), which reports on and analyzes evolution, neuroscience, bioethics, intelligent design and other science-related issues.

Culturally, transableism is “the next abyss,” that site also notes. 

   I am heartbroken for my friends battling breast cancer, post-polio health issues, and spines needing significant repair. Not one of these people wants the health issues facing them. Doctor appointments, medications (some help and others cause terrible side effects), surgeries, radiation, and the emotional angst that comes with it. One has sought professional help to sort through all the unwanted anxiety and stress. It’s a blessing to have the support they need. Most of us would be understanding and supportive and not point fingers and accuse them for what is not under their control.

   My spouse has been insulin-dependent for 30 years. There was no history of diabetes in his family, and we were stunned. Years later, the Navy acknowledged it as a result of Agent Orange—no fault of his, like my friends navigating their health problems.

   I have had three major surgeries in less than three years! Although I’d rather not undergo replacements and back surgery, I’m grateful something could be done. It’s a long and emotionally draining process. 

   More accurately, many of us have a host of physical ailments and an extensive and long list of them. Financial challenges, parenting and relational issues, and an alarming increase in mental health problems all exist. It is entirely understandable living in the times we are in. It’s a frightening world. People are angrier and angrier, and hate speech is the norm. We’ve stopped seeing one another and have lost the ability to listen. It seems it's more about being right than respecting each other. Like it or not, we are all created in the image of God. We are all valuable. We all have something to contribute to each other. It is the coming together where real life happens.

   Where would my friends be without the love, support, and understanding of family and friends? Lonely. More frightened and uncertain. Their anxiety levels would be higher, along with their fears. They are working with professional teams equipped to help them in their unwanted journeys.  

   Circling back around to transableism. I understand that not all medical professionals are willing to perform a procedure that renders an individual handicapped. The Hippocratic oath is not to harm. Jane Orient, a general internist from Tucson, Arizona, stated, “Mutilating the body is an objective harm even if it makes the patient subjectively feel better.”

   When we desire to stop and see others, we become agents of change. Loving and caring for one another changes everything. There is no such thing as a quick fix for complex physical or emotional brokenness. When we choose what seems to be the solution without thinking through the long-term consequences, we are not taking the most loving approach. Often, wanting something at the moment or in the stress-filled seasons of life, we discover the “wants” change. What then? Can we go back and have a do-over? Not with life-altering decisions. 

   When we can love and support others when they are experiencing physical, relational, and emotional hardships, we may be giving them the space to heal. We may offer them a place to decompress and land in the best position possible. Not only for the short term but for life.

When has a friend or family member supported you while you struggled with a life challenge? If not, how would that have made a difference for you?

*New York Post

By Deirdre Reilly, Fox News

April 29, 2023