Florida Sues Medical Groups for Promoting ‘Transgender’ Mutilation of Children

Florida Attorney General James Uthmeier filed a complaint against “three medical organizations for promoting child mutilation” for children who reject their sex.

The lawsuit names the World Professional Association for Transgender Health (WPATH), the Endocrine Society and the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) for causing irreversible harm to confused children by recommending irreversible medical interventions, such as puberty blockers, opposite sex hormones and surgeries.

The organizations are charged with violating Florida’s Deceptive and Unfair Trade Practices Act and RICO (Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organization) Act.

Uthmeier posted an announcement of the suit on X, saying:

We believe these organizations failed to disclose the risks, limits and evidence when promoting so-called gender-affirming care for children.

For years, these groups insisted the recommendations were “settled science,” when behind closed doors they knew the evidence was weak. They knew the outcomes uncertain and the risks very real.

The Attorney General excoriated the groups for hiding information from parents and emotionally blackmailing them into allowing their children to be experimented upon:

In fact, some parents were told that if they didn’t put their kids through permanent, life-altering, sick procedures like double mastectomies and castration, that their child would commit suicide.

Not only is that unethical and dangerous medicine, but it is against the law.

The lawsuit details the sordid history of “transgender medicine,” noting that “pediatric gender dysphoria” was rare just ten years ago but has “skyrocketed in recent years,” citing a report of 724,000 children identifying as “transgender” in 2023.

The puberty blockers, opposite-sex hormones and surgeries “are extremely profitable for Defendants and their members,” the suit explains, referencing insurance data showing such interventions were a $4.1 billion industry in 2022 – projected to rise to $8 billion by 2030.

The case against the organizations describes the way the groups built a circular, self-referential façade of evidence for their “standards of care”: Newer versions of WPATH’s recommendations cited older versions as “evidence”; WPATH cited the Endocrine Society’s guidance – then sponsoring updates of those same guidelines; and the American Academy of Pediatrics policies cited both WPATH and the Endocrine Society in their guidance.

But then, the lawsuit explains:

The house of cards collapsed in 2024, however, when internal leaks, litigation discovery, and systematic reviews commissioned by national health agencies exposed Defendants’ “circular” guidelines as an elaborate sham.

Despite this, “Defendants continue to peddle their discredited clinical guidelines as ‘evidence-based standards of care’ to sell memberships,” with health care professionals, hospitals and clinics profiting from these destructive procedures.

The AAP and the Endocrine Society were just as culpable, with both groups adopting WPATH standards for treating minors and the AAP encouraging insurance companies to “offer coverage for health care that is specific to the needs of youth who identify as TGD [Transgender and Gender Diverse], including coverage for . . . surgical gender-affirming interventions.”

In 2022, Florida’s Department of Health examined the evidence for these interventions, finding no scientific support for inflicting these experimental procedures on children.

The state blocked Medicare payments for transgender drugs and surgeries for minors, and the Florida Board of Medicine and Board of Osteopathic Medicine voted to protect children, prohibiting the damaging practices.

WPATH, the AAP and the Endocrine Society pushed back, denouncing the state’s action to safeguard children and submitting amicus briefs in support of parents and minors who challenged Florida’s actions in court.

The most recent WPATH Standards of Care claim:

There is strong evidence demonstrating the benefits in quality of life and well-being of gender-affirming treatments, including endocrine and surgical procedures.

But the state of Florida points to reviews from Finland, Sweden, the United Kingdom and the U.S. that show little evidence for giving children powerful experimental drugs and hormones or mutilating their bodies with surgeries.

In addition, the suit accuses the organizations of being politically and ideologically motivated and using poor methodology to come up with their “standards of care.”

Florida is seeking a fine of $1 million for each organization and $10,000 for each violation of its Deceptive and Unfair Trade Practices Act, as well as permanent injunctions against their “misleading advertisements regarding the safety, reversibility, or efficacy of pediatric sex interventions.”

WPATH, the AAP and the Endocrine Society should be held accountable for promoting these devastating, irreversible procedures for children. We pray that Florida will be successful in its pursuit of justice.

Related articles and resources:

Children’s Hospital Los Angeles Shuts Down Harmful ‘Center for Transyouth’

Doctor Refuses to Publish Major Study Finding Puberty-Blocking Drugs Don’t Help Children

FBI, DOJ Target Those Mutilating Children with ‘Transgender’ Drugs and Surgeries

Florida Protects Children, Bans Experimental ‘Trans’ Procedures on Minors

Focus on the Family: Counseling Consultation & Referrals

Focus on the Family: Transgender Resources

God’s Amazing Grace in a Transgendered Person’s Life

HHS Releases Report on Harms of ‘Transgender’ Medical Interventions for Minors

New Video Equips Parents and Counselors to Help ‘Gender Dysphoric’ Children

Pam Bondi Directs DOJ Attorneys to Investigate Transgender Procedures for Minors

Transgenderism and Minors: What Does the Research Really Show?