Two Republican senators with medical doctor backgrounds laid into the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention for issuing new guidance on so-called "chestfeeding."
Roger Marshall of Kansas, an obstetrician, and Bill Cassidy of Louisiana, a gastroenterologist, used their leadership roles on the Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee to condemn the guidance.
In a Tuesday letter sent to CDC Director Mandy Cohen, the pair pointed out that the latest guidance builds on past pledges to pursue so-called "health equity" by replacing terms like "woman" with "pregnant person."
Marshall and Cassidy also noted that the agency believes transgender people can "chestfeed" their children and might need special attention from healthcare providers in obtaining "medication to induce lactation."
"What is explicitly left out is the acknowledgment of limited research on the ability of transgender individuals to breastfeed infants," the letter read. "CDC also does not provide any information about any unique health and safety risks posed to the transgender individual or the infant."
The senators specifically took issue with the fact that, despite the CDC's guidance, no medication to induce lactation is currently approved by the Food and Drug Administration.
"To issue breastfeeding guidance that does not highlight the clear risks posed to transgender women breastfeeding unnecessarily puts the parent and infant in jeopardy of potentially serious health complications," they wrote.
By Aug. 1, Marshall and Cassidy have requested that Cohen provide answers for why the guidance was issued and any peer-reviewed studies on the safety and efficacy of transgender breastfeeding.
A CDC spokesperson told the Washington Examiner that the agency did not endorse using drugs to induce lactation but references "clinical protocol" on discussing medications with healthcare providers.
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