The American Medical Association fired back Wednesday at President Donald Trump regarding a ban on allowing transgender individuals to be in the military.
"There is no medically valid reason to exclude transgender individuals from military service," AMA President David Barbe, MD, said in a statement. "Transgender individuals are serving their country with honor, and they should be allowed to continue doing so." The AMA also cited a study from Rand Corp., which found transgender individuals in the military would have little impact on overall financial costs. "According to the Rand study on the impact of transgender individuals in the military, the financial cost is a rounding error in the defense budget and should not be used as an excuse to deny patriotic Americans an opportunity to serve their country. We should be honoring their service — not trying to end it."
Mr. Trump announced the ban in a series of tweets, stating that the military "cannot be burdened with the tremendous medical costs and disruption that transgender in the military would entail."
After consultation with my Generals and military experts, please be advised that the United States Government will not accept or allow......
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) July 26, 2017
....Transgender individuals to serve in any capacity in the U.S. Military. Our military must be focused on decisive and overwhelming.....
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) July 26, 2017
....victory and cannot be burdened with the tremendous medical costs and disruption that transgender in the military would entail. Thank you
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) July 26, 2017
....victory and cannot be burdened with the tremendous medical costs and disruption that transgender in the military would entail. Thank you
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) July 26, 2017
However, Joint Chiefs of Staff told military officials Thursday the ban is not in effect, according to a statement provided to Politico. "There will be no modifications to the current policy until the President's direction has been received by the Secretary of Defense and the Secretary has issued implementation guidance," Marine Gen. Joe Dunford, chairman of the joint chiefs, said in a statement.
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