The Federal Trade Commission hosted a day-long workshop on Wednesday that sought to dive into whether there’s a risk of “deceptive marketing” in providing gender-affirming care to minors, and is looking for further feedback on the matter.
Commission Chair Andrew Ferguson opened the workshop, titled “The Dangers of ‘Gender-Affirming Care’ for Minors,” and in his remarks said that the agency will issue a request for information in the near future on gender-affirming care, emphasizing that the workshop was “not about politics.”
Panels throughout the day centered on questions as to whether doctors and the healthcare system misleads young patients and their parents about the need for and risks associated with gender-affirming care. Speakers included individuals who chose to de-transition after undergoing gender-affirming procedures.
“The whole of gender medicine is a complete sham, based on false science,” said Erin Friday, an attorney and anti-transgender activist who led a panel titled “The Biggest Predators in the Industry.”
Friday and other speakers at the workshop argued that physicians put unfair pressure on parents to agree to gender-affirming care for their children, and that the evidence around safety for such treatment for minors is severely lacking.
During her presentation, Friday called out multiple clinicians, health systems and other indsutry organizations by name. Other panelists recommended that these high-profile players, including groups like the American Medical Association and the American Academy of Pediatrics, serve as a starting point for an agency investigation.
The Trump administration has taken multiple steps that target access to gender-affirming care, and the FTC’s investigation follows an announcement in June that Department of Health and Human Services was investigating healthcare organizations that are accused of preventing employees from raising religious objections to providing gender-affirming care.
The agency also published a report in May that reviewed large swaths of research on gender-affirming care, which argues that key evidence backing this procedures is of low quality. The report also slammed national medical organizations for “creating a perception that there is a professional consensus” in support of gender-affirming care.
Gender-affirming care for minors has been banned in multiple states.
Actions that FTC may take in this space are unclear for now, but Commissioner Mark Meador said the agency intends to continue probing the issue. He said in closing remarks that parents are put in a tough position to make decisions for their child’s care as there is a lack of data around gender-affirming procedures, their safety and the long-term implications.
He added that the issue has been turned into a political one by medical groups, and the conversation has been dominated by that perspective. The goal of the workshop and the FTC’s probe more broadly is to give a “voice to the powerless” and ensure patients receive counseling based on the best available evidence, he said.
“These conversations have been so important because for too long those in power have only given a voice to one side of this debate,” Meador said. “That changed today.”
This is a developing story and will be updated.
