Twenty Republican Attorneys General are investigating the American Academy of Pediatrics for possible consumer deception when touting “transgender” medical services for children.
“The AAP continues to mislead and deceive consumers by maintaining its claim that puberty blockers are ‘reversible,’” says a September 24 letter to the AAP by the state attorneys.
“‘That claim is misleading and deceptive and requires immediate retraction and correction,” says the letter, led by former GOP Rep. Raul Labrador, who is now Idaho’s AG. The letter continues:
That claim raises questions under most state consumer protection laws, it has the undersigned alarmed. Idaho law, for example, prohibits “[e]ngaging in any act or practice that is otherwise misleading, false, or deceptive to the consumer.” Idaho Code § 48-603(17). Most other states likewise prohibit making statements to consumers that are false, misleading, or deceptive. Each of us takes our responsibility to protect consumers in our states very seriously.
“Countries around the world are intervening to protect children against these untested [“transgender”] treatments,” the letter says, adding:
That [foreign] halt on what is fairly described as medical experimentation on children is long overdue—particularly since the majority of children initially diagnosed with gender dysphoria desist and “grow out” of the condition by the time they are adolescents or adults. It is abusive to treat a child with biologically altering drugs that have an unknown physiological trajectory and end point. It is also inhumane to endorse such experimentation without a confident safety profile, especially if more times than not, it proves to be medically unnecessary.
The AAP had not released a response when this article was posted.
The letter comes as President Donald Trump promises to roll back the pro-transgender policies set in place by outgoing President Joe Biden.
Democratic candidate Kamala Harris, however, has long supported pro-transgenderism policies and spending, including in K-12 schools.
Trump’s promised rollback is increasingly popular, even among liberal advocates. WNG reported September 23:
Amanda Ericsson used to describe herself as a “typical purple hair, pro-choice, live-and-let-live type.” The California resident was previously in a polyamorous relationship and supported abortion. So in 2020, the choice was easy: She voted for Joe Biden.
But Ericsson’s support for Democrats evaporated when her then-13-year-old daughter announced she was “gender fluid.” For the next few years, public school officials, psychologists, family therapists, child protective services pressured her to accept her child’s new identity and pronouns, even prompting a welfare check from the local police. When she and her husband refused, the ensuing battle over how to address their daughter’s mental health and gender identity upended their family.
“I was very leftist, ‘Everybody do their own thing,’” Ericsson said. “But as I’ve watched this take hold of our society, I’m seeing the consequences of not saying, ‘No, this is not okay, this is too far.’ And I have reverted so far back, now it’s just to the point where I can’t even vote Democrat.”
Corporations are also distancing themselves from the pro-transgender policies. “Endorsing these scientifically unsupported statements not only harms children but also harms shareholders,” said Daniel Cameron, a former AG of Kentucky, and the founder of the 1792 Exchange, which opposes diversity mandates in companies. “It’s time to get businesses back to business and halt the medical experimentation on our children,” he told Breitbart News.
The letter was signed by 20 Republican AGs, including Ashley Moody in Florida, Kris Koback in Kansas, Andrew Bailey in Missouri, Ken Paxton in Texas, and Dave Yost in Ohio.
The letter was not signed by the Republican AGs in Alaska, Indiana, Kentucky, Nevada, New Hampshire, Oklahoma, Tennessee, or Wyoming.
The 20 attorneys are also demanding the AAP explain its cooperation with the leading medical advocacy group for transgenderism, the World Professional Association for Transgender Health (WPATH):
The World Professional Association for Transgender Health and its standards of care—the AAP’s apparent cornerstone source—have been exposed as unreliable and influenced by improper pressures. Indeed, we are additionally concerned about AAP’s involvement in pressuring WPATH to make last minute changes to [medical guidelines] based on political considerations12—and then assuring the public that those same standards are “evidence-based.”
The attorneys are demanding the AAP answer questions by October 8 about how its committee members drafted and debated the association’s pro-transgender policies, and their cooperation with WPATH.
“We expect you will address this matter with the same seriousness that we are, and we look forward to receiving your response soon,” the letter said.