With the culture wars at a fever pitch, one Christian denomination is speaking out against pushing transgender ideology onto children.

The Presbyterian Church in America, or PCA, recently wrote a petition to the Biden administration, pleading for the president to reverse course on his ideology and protect children from harmful sex-change procedures. 

PCA states that these surgeries are both causing irreparable harm to the next generation and go against God’s design for humanity. The statement quotes several verses from Scripture and the Westminster Confession of Faith supporting the PCA’s concerns.

The letter writers said their plea was a “humble petition to governmental leaders,” acknowledging that God declares the “civil government, no less the church, is a divine institution and owes its authority to God.” However, the letter also states that the “Bible is the supreme revelation of God’s will” for humanity, including the intentional design of men and women. The petition goes on to explain that children receive special protection under Jesus Christ before they are capable of choosing between good and evil. Therefore, the church is calling on the administration to “renounce the sin” of “all medical and surgical sex change procedures in minors by the American healthcare system.”

In mid-June, the assembly held its 50th meeting and voted on sending the plea to government officials. The overture received a majority vote, though not without hesitation.

According to the assembly, some people voted against the church’s decision because they weren’t sure just how much the church should be involved in state affairs. But one of the pastors commented that the procedure was “not just a bad moral decision, it’s something where the government is interfering with the rights of parents and allowing this to happen in an irreversible fashion.”

The American College of Pediatricians has issued a warning against puberty blockers and cross-sex hormones because both interventions are proven to lead to increased risks of anxiety and depression, among many other irreversible effects for minors.

This has caused some countries to reverse course and either outlaw or put major restrictions on transgender surgeries for minors. Healthcare organizations in Australia, the United Kingdom, and Sweden have all published statements saying that these medical interventions are experimental and dangerous for kids. The PCA is now looking to partner with their Canadian congregations to speak out against the issue further.