According to an exclusive report by The Daily Signal, the minors were given cross-sex hormones over the course of two years. Two of the study's participants committed suicide, 11 others experienced suicidal ideation (a broad term used to describe a range of contemplations, wishes, and preoccupations with death and suicide, according to the NIH), and the drugs participants took will likely sterilize them, the Republicans' letter said.

US Rep Josh Brecheen (R-OK) and Sen. Ted Budd (R-NC) led the lawmakers who signed the letter.

The query sent to Dr. Lawrence Tabak cited "grave concerns" about the study, and also noted that 240 of the 315 participants were minors, according to the outlet.

The lawmakers also cited a report from the medical organization Do No Harm, which found the study "fatally flawed and borderline unscientific," The Daily Signal reported. 

"It is sickening that the federal government is preying on young people and using our taxpayer dollars to advance its radical gender ideology," Brecheen said in a statement to The Daily Signal. "We are rightfully demanding answers from NIH and we are committed to holding those responsible accountable for this tragic loss of life."

The study, published by The New England Journal of Medicine in January, was conducted by the Boston Children's Hospital, the University of California at San Francisco, and the Lurie Children's Hospital of Chicago. The three organizations received a $477,444 five-year grant from the NIH for the project.

The Republicans' letter noted the four clinics and some of the researchers who conducted the study are "outspoken advocates for conducting gender transition interventions on children," according to The Daily Signal.

"In a video it later removed from its YouTube channel, Boston Children's Hospital, one of the clinics involved, went as far as to claim that children can know their gender identity 'from the womb.' Johanna Olson, a co-author of this paper, told CNN in 2014, 'We're definitely in the middle of a gender revolution and it's exciting.' This same researcher later received a federal grant for a study in which she altered protocol to allow children as young as 8 years old to receive cross-sex hormones," the letter explained.

The study reportedly had 315 subjects between the ages of 12 and 20, who identified as transgender and nonbinary. During the two-year project, each of the subjects received hormones to make their bodies mirror the bodies of the opposite sex.

"During the study period, appearance congruence, positive affect, and life satisfaction increased, and depression and anxiety symptoms decreased," the researchers' article claimed, even though 11 of the study subjects experienced suicidal thoughts and two committed suicide.

"Rather than shutting the study down after such serious adverse events, the researchers published their paper, concluding that the study was a success because cross-sex hormones had altered subjects' physical appearance and improved psychosocial functioning," the lawmakers' letter said. "However, the researchers admitted that they were not able to properly establish causality between the administration of cross-sex hormones and improved psychosocial functioning because their study lacked a control group."

The researchers have been "in search of an agenda and justifying an agenda, they're not really about children's safety as we've seen from the suicides," Budd told Fox News. He described the study as "absolutely tragic."

The letter asked Tabak, by June 9, to provide responses to questions such as, "Were the individuals who tragically died by suicide while participating in this study minors?" and "Were participants and their parents given the opportunity to reconsider their consent and withdraw from this research in light of the suicides?" according to Fox News. 

Other GOP lawmakers who signed the letter include Florida Sen. Mark Rubio, Kentucky Sen. Rand Paul, Oklahoma Sen. James Lankford, North Carolina Sen. Michael Lee, Illinois US Rep. Mary Miller, Colorado US Rep. Lauren Boebert, Texas US Reps. Chip Roy, Andy Biggs, Ronnie L. Jackson, Michael Cloud, and Randy Weber; Arizona US Rep. Eli Crane, and South Carolina US Rep. Jeff Duncan.

CBN News has reached out to the NIH for comment. We'll post their response here if we hear back. Subscribe for free to Breaking Christian News here

Steve Warren is a senior multimedia producer for CBN News. Warren has worked in the news departments of television stations and cable networks across the country.

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