Kansas Attorney General Kris Kobach joined a cohort of conservative attorneys general to warn the American Academy of Pediatrics that it could be held liable by consumer protection laws over its position that puberty blockers are reversible.
The AAP adopted the policy in 2018 and again reaffirmed its position in updated 2023 guidelines where it endorses puberty blockers, cross-sex hormones and surgical interventions for minors diagnosed with gender dysphoria — though it did note that surgeries are rare for children and are pursued on a case-by-case basis.
The effort is led by Idaho Attorney General Raúl Labrador and claims that the AAP’s policy statement on hormone blockers is misleading, citing a British systematic review of youth transgender care that led to the banning of puberty blockers for gender dysphoria in the U.K. The report found a lack of evidence that puberty blockers correlated with improved mental health, that its use could compromise bone health and that it could complicate surgical interventions for transgender adults.