The co-director at Boston Children’s Hospital’s Center for Gender Surgery co-wrote an article that declared a need for increasing training efforts for gender-affirming surgeries.

The center performs mastectomies on teenagers as young as 15; the hospital admitted on its website (later deleted) that 17-year-olds could receive vaginoplasties and 18-year-olds could receive phalloplasties or metoidioplasties (surgical creations of a penis for a female).

“Physicians who provide GAC [gender affirming care] will face a greater burden due to constraints in certain states and increasing demands for care,” plastic and reconstructive surgeon Oren Ganor, the co-director of the center, co-wrote in an article published in the March 14 edition of The Journal of the American Medical Association. “Especially as certain states work to criminalize GAC for adolescents, there will be an increased flux of patients traveling to seek care in states with more open legislation.”

“Although the legal landscape may be more favorable in these states, the capacity to treat these patients does not match the demand,” the co-authors continued. “How, then, can these states expand clinician capacity and improve competencies in treating transgender patients? The medical community can take several steps to improve capacity for this patient population. … With certain states restricting gender-affirming surgeries, residency programs in states with more favorable regulations must ensure they increase training efforts to accommodate increased caseloads of gender-affirming surgeries that will likely result.”

The co-authors cited “rampant transphobia in the U.S.,” claiming it “sometimes results in increased violence against transgender people plus intimidation and threats of violence against those who provide their care.”

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“It is important to recognize that for many gender-diverse young people, the decision to engage in gender-affirming care can be lifesaving and life-changing. Without this care, gender-diverse youth can experience severe distress, anxiety, and depression,” the hospital told Fox News Digital.

“[A]ny decisions about gender-affirming care should be made after a rigorous evaluation process that involves a psychologist or social worker, a patient’s doctor and their parents or guardians.”

A hospital spokesperson clarified, “for surgical consultation, you must be 17 years of age and between 18 and 35 years of age at the time of surgery. We have since updated this to reflect the protocols for the practice, which we have always adhered to (no surgery under 18 years of age).”

Members of Covenant Presbyterian Church in Nashville, Tennessee, gathered for worship on Sunday for the first time since six individuals from The Covenant School were murdered in a shooting last week, expressing hope in Jesus Christ and His resurrection amid the tragedy that unexpectedly struck their community.

The congregants, gathered in the sanctuary of nearby Christ Presbyterian Church on the evening of Palm Sunday, were welcomed by Rev. Britton Wood, who noted that the worshipers were joined by several family members and friends who had flown to Nashville from across the country, as well as law enforcement officials from the Metro Nashville Police Department.

“The world has changed since the last time we got together on the Lord’s Day,” the minister noted. “Today is the day that we are reminded by our King, who lived for us and who died for us and who has risen for us, today is the day that He reminds us of the things that have not changed, of the Kingdom that cannot be shaken. And let that draw us to offer God worship with reverence and awe.”

A 28-year-old woman who identified as a man killed three children and three adults at The Covenant School, a ministry of the conservative evangelical congregation affiliated with the Presbyterian Church in America, as the school day began on Monday, March 27. Police revealed that the shooter, whom The Daily Wire will not name in accordance with company policy, executed a “targeted attack” and wrote a “manifesto” ahead of the massacre.

The 9-year-old students killed in the shooting were identified as Evelyn Dieckhaus, William Kinney, and Hallie Scruggs, the daughter of Covenant Presbyterian Church senior minister Chad Scruggs. Dr. Katherine Koonce, the school’s 60-year-old principal, was also killed, as were 61-year-olds Mike Hill, an employee at the school, and Cynthia Peak, a substitute teacher.

Mourning congregants were comforted as they sang hymns such as “O God Our Help in Ages Past,” “Be Still My Soul,” and “Abide with Me.” One of the congregational prayers asked God to comfort those in their church family impacted by the shooting.

“Most merciful God, whose wisdom is beyond our understanding, deal graciously with those who mourn,” the prayer said. “Surround them with Your love, that they may not be overwhelmed with their loss, but have confidence in Your goodness and strength to meet the days to come. Through Jesus Christ our Lord, Amen.”

Rev. Billy Barnes preached from the final chapter of Luke, in which Jesus appeared to His grieving disciples on the road to the town of Emmaus shortly after His resurrection. The passage is marked by the disciples expressing confusion in light of Jesus’ death without realizing that He was walking alongside them even amid their sadness. Barnes noted that reminders of the good news about Jesus Christ bring healing to the soul, even through pain and sorrow, because “God is in control and He is sovereign.”

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“We are all on the road to Emmaus together right now,” the minister said. “He is with us. And He will be until the end of the age. And He is risen. Everything is true. It’s all true.”