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CV NEWS FEED // Idaho Attorney General Raúl Labrador led a coalition of 20 state attorneys general this week demanding that the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) retract false statements that gender transition procedures such as puberty blockers and cross-sex hormones for children are “reversible.”
The letter was signed by 20 state attorneys general, including Texas AG Ken Paxton, Missouri AG Andrew Bailey, and Ohio AG Dave Yost. Arizona State Senate President Warren Petersen and Arizona House Speaker Ben Toma also signed the letter.
The letter, addressed to AAP President Benjamin Hoffman and President-elect Susan Kressly, criticized the AAP for publishing and continuing to use the “misleading and deceptive” policy statement claiming that the use of puberty blockers is “reversible.”
“It is beyond medical debate that puberty blockers are not fully reversible but instead come with serious long-term consequences” the letter states:
The 2018 AAP policy statement itself demonstrates that the “reversible” claim is misleading and deceptive. It acknowledges that “[r]esearch on long-term risks, particularly in terms of bone metabolism and fertility, is currently limited and provides varied results.” The AAP has no basis to assure parents that giving their children puberty blockers can be fully reversed. It just isn’t true… That claim is misleading and deceptive and requires immediate retraction and correction.
Citing a report of the National Health Service of England, known as the “Cass Report,” signatories pointed out that the report “identifies several possible irreversible consequences when children are given puberty blockers:
When used to suppress hormones below normal ranges during or before puberty, puberty blockers: (1) may interfere with neurocognitive development; (2) compromise bone density and may negatively affect metabolic health and weight; and (3) block normal pubertal experience and experimentation. And when puberty blocker use is followed directly by cross-sex hormone use, which is often the case, infertility and sterility is a known consequence, at least for those who began puberty blockers in early puberty.
The signatories also requested the AAP provide written responses to 14 questions posed to the AAP by October 8. One such question reads: “Provide substantiation for the AAP’s claims that puberty blockers are reversible when used to treat adolescents suffering from gender dysphoria.”
Another question relates to the World Professional Association for Transgender Health (WPATH): “Explain why the AAP continues to cite the standards released by WPATH even after the release of the WPATH Files and WPATH Tapes exposed serious issues with WPATH.”
The signatories concluded, “We expect you will address this matter with the same seriousness that we are, and we look forward to receiving your response soon.”
In a press release on the letter, Labrador said the attorneys general were putting AAP on notice “for possible violations of state consumer protection statutes over its evidence free standards on gender dysphoria care for minors.”
“As confirmed by the Cass Report as well as recent disclosures by WPATH, AAP’s guidance is based more on political pressure and agendas rather than medical efficacy and sound medical judgement,” the press release continued. Labrador stated that in their letter, the attorneys general were “request[ing] information detailing the AAP’s evidence for its ongoing recommendations for puberty blockers for gender dysphoria-diagnosed youth despite widespread retractions of the practice.”
“It is shameful the most basic tenet of medicine – do no harm – has been abandoned by professional associations when politically pressured,” Labrador said of the AAP’s gender policies.
“These organizations are sacrificing the health and well-being of children with medically unproven treatments that leave a wake of permanent damage,” he continued:
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.
Do No Harm Senior Fellow Dr. Jared Ross commended the attorneys general for confronting the AAP for their “unscientific” and “potentially harmful treatments” on minors.
“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,” Ross said. “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.”
