The American Academy of Pediatrics and the Endocrine Society filed separate lawsuits this week, arguing that the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) unfairly targeted them.
“The issuance of the CID is intended to intimidate AAP from speaking about the state of scientific research on GAC because the Trump Administration and the FTC do not agree with it,” the lawsuit from the American Academy of Pediatrics reads. “Unable to prevail in the marketplace of ideas, the FTC has resorted to burdening AAP with an intrusive and expensive investigation that is unconstitutional and outside the scope of the FTC’s statutory authority.”
“Using the threat of investigation or prosecution against an organization in order to silence speech the government does not like is retaliation, prohibited by the First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution,” the filing adds. “Moreover, issuing an overbroad subpoena as a tool to compel disclosures in such a retaliatory action violates the Fourth Amendment.”
Meanwhile, the Endocrine Society argued that the Trump administration has “trained its sights on the Endocrine Society because it views the organization as guilty of promoting ‘gender ideology,’ a pejorative term the Administration uses to describe the view that certain medical treatments can be appropriate, safe, and effective in treating gender dysphoria and gender incongruence.”
The American Academy of Pediatrics was previously under FTC investigation, alongside the World Professional Association of Transgender Health, with investigators seeking information as to whether the groups have “made, or assisted others in making, false or unsubstantiated representations or engaged in unfair practices in connection with the marketing and advertising of Pediatric Gender Dysphoria Treatment.”
Both groups sought to stop the document request, with the petition from the American Academy of Pediatrics reading, “The [Civil Investigative Demand] should be quashed in its entirety because it: (1) exceeds the scope of the Commission’s authority to investigate; (2) violates the First Amendment; (3) was not issued pursuant to a Commission Resolution; and (4) is overbroad and unduly burdensome.”
