In recent years, many states have passed laws protecting children from dangerous trangender care. This type of “care” has been promoted by several medical organizations, including the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP).
Other organizations, like the American Society of Plastic Surgeons, have backed away from this kind of care, noting that “there is considerable uncertainty as to the long-term efficacy for the use of chest and genital surgical interventions for the treatment of adolescents with gender dysphoria, and the existing evidence base is viewed as low quality/low certainty.”
This week, 21 state attorneys general sent a letter to the AAP over its unwavering support for transgender care for minors. This includes puberty blockers, hormone therapy treatment, and irreversible sex reassignment surgery.
Led by Idaho Attorney General Raúl Labrador, the letter points out that the organization has abandoned “its commitment to sound medical judgment” by supporting these treatments for children.
“When it comes to treating children diagnosed with gender dysphoria, the AAP has abandoned its commitment to sound medical judgment. In 2023, it 'reaffirmed' the 2018 AAP policy statement on gender-affirming care. That policy statement endorses treating minors diagnosed with gender dysphoria with puberty blockers, cross-sex hormones, and surgical interventions. And it tells physicians, the public, and parents and their children that puberty blockers used to treat adolescents with gender dysphoria are 'reversible,'" the letter reads. "That claim is scientifically unsupported and contradicts what is medically known. And because that claim raises questions under most state consumer protection laws, it has the undersigned alarmed."
The letter notes that the majority of children who are diagnosed with “gender dysphoria” eventually grow out of it.
"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 letter adds.
Why is the American Academy of Pediatrics continuing to endorse puberty blockers for kids, despite mounting evidence that these drugs have irreversible consequences?
— Katelynn Richardson (@katesrichardson) September 24, 2024
That's what 20 state AGs are asking. They say AAP's deceptive claims could violate consumer protection laws. pic.twitter.com/FZRDnPDQR4
In a statement to Townhall, Labrador said, “The most basic tenant of medicine – do no harm – has been abandoned by professional associations when politically pressured. These organizations are sacrificing the health and well-being of children with medically unproven treatments that leave a wake of permanent damage.”
“Children with gender dysphoria need and deserve love, support, and medical care rooted in biological reality. Parents should be able to trust that a doctor’s medical guidance isn’t just the latest talking point from a dangerous and discredited activist agenda,” he added.
Dr. Jared Ross, a senior fellow at the organization Do No Harm, added: “Amid a fracturing consensus among the medical establishment on sex change surgeries and drugs for minors, the American Academy of Pediatrics has refused to reevaluate their recommendations. We applaud Attorney General Labrador and all the other attorneys general who are holding the AAP accountable for endorsing unscientific, experimental, and potentially harmful treatments."
