“When the American Academy of Pediatrics speaks, its 67,000 pediatrician members, the broader medical community, the public, and especially parents are listening,” a letter from Idaho Attorney General Raúl Labrador reads. The letter goes on to detail in no uncertain terms how the AAP has defrauded the American public by lying that puberty blockers are reversible. In total, 22 attorneys general, including South Dakota AG Marty Jackley, signed onto the letter. 

“When it comes to treating children diagnosed with gender dysphoria, the AAP has abandoned its commitment to sound medical judgment,” the letter reads. “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.’ That statement is misleading and deceptive. It is beyond medical debate that puberty blockers are not fully reversible but instead come with serious long-term consequences.” (emphasis added)

The AAP, the American Psychiatric Association, and the Endocrine Society are among the many medical organizations that look to the World Professional Association of Transgender Health (WPATH) for guidance on “transgender care.” However, leaked files from WPATH revealed in March of this year that their guidance is based more on political and social pressure from activists than on medical research such as peer-reviewed studies and clinical trials. The nonprofit organization responsible for leaking the “WPATH Files” wrote that WPATH’s “approach to medicine is consumer-driven and pseudoscientific, and its members appear to be engaged in political activism, not science.” Thus, if the AAP is looking to WPATH for guidance, and WPATH’s guidance is based on politically motivated pseudoscience, the AAP doesn’t have a leg to stand on.

The letter from the attorneys general overviews the known impacts of “gender-affirming care” for minors:

“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,” the letter continues. “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.”

In August, the American Society of Plastic Surgeons (ASPS) became the first major medical organization to denounce the practice of performing “gender-affirming care” procedures on minors,  noting that “the existing evidence base is viewed as low quality/low certainty.” Low-quality evidence means that “the true effect of an intervention is likely to be markedly different from the results reported in studies.” 

The eight-page letter closes with a list of 14 action items and questions with a request for a written response from the AAP by October 8. Two of those items are listed below:

• “Provide substantiation for the AAP’s claims that puberty blockers are reversible when used to treat adolescents suffering from gender dysphoria.”
• “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.” 

Medical negligence does not even begin to cover the AAP’s crimes against gender-confused minors. This organization must be held responsible for the immeasurable damage they have done to countless children and their families. When parents look to the leading medical organizations of this nation, they trust that science and evidence back up their guidance, not politically motivated pseudoscience. We’re thankful that South Dakota AG Marty Jackley is one of the many individuals holding the AAP accountable for their actions.