Attorneys general ask why pediatricians have ‘abandoned sound medical judgment’

The American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) must explain why it “abandoned its commitment to sound medical judgment” by endorsing puberty blockers, cross-sex hormones and sex change surgeries as treatments for children with gender dysphoria, a group of Republican attorneys general told the organization Tuesday.

Citing the Cass report, a four-year systematic review of transgender medical studies conducted in England, the group of 20 states led by Idaho Attorney General Raúl Labrador, along with the Arizona Legislature, wrote it is “beyond medical debate that puberty blockers are not fully reversible but instead come with serious long-term consequences.” In light of this mounting evidence, as well as the exposure of the World Professional Association for Transgender Health (WPATH) standards as “unreliable and influenced by improper pressures,” the states told APP its 2018 policy statement backing these medical procedures is “misleading and deceptive.”

“It is abusive to treat a child with biologically altering drugs that have an unknown physiological trajectory and end point,” the letter states. “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.”

This “medical experimentation on children” has been halted in countries around the world, and the World Health Organization “refuses to endorse puberty blockers,” the letter notes.

THE WPATH TAPES: Behind-The-Scenes Recordings Reveal What Top Gender Doctors Really Think About Sex Change Procedures

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The attorneys general asked the AAP to substantiate its claims and explain the process for developing its policy statement. They also asked the organization to produce communications with WPATH, related to WPATH’s Standards of Care Version 8 (SOC-8) and with any member of the Biden administration.

The states noted they are concerned about “AAP’s involvement in pressuring WPATH to make last-minute changes to SOC-8 based on political considerations—and then assuring the public that those same standards are ‘evidence-based.” AAP must also answer for continuing to cite WPATH’s standards following the release of documents exposing the standards were influenced by political and litigation goals, despite their claim to be “evidence-based,” states wrote in the letter.

Unsealed court documents revealed that assistant Secretary for Health Rachel Levine was “eager” for the release of SOC-8 and wanted to use it to advance the Biden administration’s political goals.

“Ultimately, the AAP’s statements and guidance affect how physicians practice medicine and treat children,” the states wrote. “Because providers rely on the AAP when they make treatment decisions, parents and their children are harmed by the AAP’s misleading and deceptive claim.”

The AAP did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

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