An Alabama pediatrician has been accused of glorifying the suicide of a tormented transgender teenager by telling a top conference the 16 year-old’s decision to end her life was ‘bold.’
Dr. Morissa Ladinsky twice used the word while describing the 2014 death of Leelah Alcorn, who stepped in front of a tractor-trailer in Ohio while battling mental health issues she says were linked to her transition from male to female.
Speaking at the American Academy of Pediatrics conference at Anaheim on October 11, she said: ‘And in the final days of 2014… a local 16-year-old lady, Leelah Alcorn, of trans experience, stepped boldly in front of a tractor-trailer, ending her life.
‘Her suicide note, written to post on social media about an hour after her death, went viral around the world,’ Ladinsky continued.
‘Now, Leelah was not my patient. But I took care of hundreds of her classmates at Kings Mills High School. But each day, on the way to work, I passed that spot — where this teen boldly ended her life.’
Ladinsky attempted to emotionally tie in Alcorn’s suicide note and how the doctor passes the same spot the teenager took her own life daily while continuing to call her death ‘bold’
The 16-year-old teenager that Ladinsky was referring to was Leelah Alcorn. The teenager tragically ended her life after being ‘unaccepted’ as being a female
Ladinsky’s remarks were recorded by another pediatrician, Dr Julia Mason, who shared them on Twitter.
Commentators on social media were furious at how Ladinsky described alcorn’s death and called it ‘disgusting.’
‘What sort of social movement celebrates suicide as a bold act? The answer is a cult. Cults do that,’ one viewer wrote.
‘I’ve never heard a medical provider describe suicide as a “bold” act before. Let alone twice,’ another person said.
Physican Michael Ziffra was also mortified by Ladinsky’s suicide speech and called it ‘grossly exploitive.’
Alcorn had written a suicide note before she took her life that was pre-set to go live on social media an hour after her death.
In her lengthy suicide note, Alcorn wrote that her life wasn’t ‘worth living in’ because she is transgender, and the world would never accept her.
‘That’s the gist of it, that’s why I feel like killing myself,’ Alcorn wrote at the time. ‘Sorry if that’s not a good enough reason for you, it’s good enough for me.’
Alcorn was taking higher than advised dosages anti-depressants including Prozac at the time of her death.
Dr. Morissa Ladinsky is under fire on social media after calling the 2014 death of a transgender teen that walked in front of a tractor trailer in Alabama ‘bold’
The video of Ladinsky speaking at the four-day American Academy of Pediatric Conference was posted by Dr. Julia Mason, who slammed the fellow doctor
Ladinsky, who also works as an associate professor at The University of Alabama at Birmingham is a vocal transgender rights activist who is among doctors pushing for controversial ‘gender-affirming care’ for teens.
The medic and her supporters say this is crucial to keep transgender teens happy, but critics say youngsters are being pushed into irreversible treatments including mastectomies and hormone therapies they could later regret.
Last year, Ladinsky wrote an opinion piece for AL.com and insisted she could be arrested and stripped of her medical credentials for providing LGBTQ+ care in the state.
Under Alabama Senate Bill 10 passed in 2021, the state prohibited the care of’ gender change therapy’ and ‘withholding’ of medical information from parents.
Ladinsky cited the state law and recalled her patient who was a male but ‘had always known herself to be a girl.’ The unidentified patient was admitted into a psychiatric ward after a third suicide attempt as puberty approached and her parents disapproved.
The doctor feared Senate Bill 10 and wrote at the time that ‘in 28 years of practice’ she never saw it coming after ‘quietly healing thousands of youth.’
Leelah received criticism from her parents for being trans and they put her in conversion therapy. Carla (left) and Doug (right)
Alcorn left a handwritten note on her bed that said, ‘I’ve had enough,’ and conducted multiple searches in relation to suicide and running away.
Other page searches on Alcorn’s laptop included ‘suicide prevention’ tips that she viewed leading up to her death, according to reports.
The teenager had disapproving parents that sent her to ‘conversion therapy’ against her will. The sessions were intended to revoke Alcorn’s feelings about her gender.
In her suicide note, the teenager began the lengthy page with, ‘Please don’t be sad, it’s for the better. The life I would’ve lived isn’t worth living in… because I’m transgender.’
Alcorn walked through her struggles with her family accepting her as female and how she felt ‘like a girl trapped in a boy’s body’ since the age of four.
If you need help and support, you can contact The National Suicide Prevention Lifeline on 1-800-273-TALK (8255)