The World Professional Association for Transgender Health has a leading role in determining how gender-affirming care is provided.PoliticoBy Simon J. Levien06/17/2026The Federal Trade Commission is suing the leading transgender health care group in federal court. The agency argued on Wednesday that the World Professional Association for Transgender Health made “deceptive claims” in its health care guidelines for transgender children. The group’s members include psychiatrists, surgeons, pediatricians, endocrinologists and primary care doctors who work with transgender patients.The FTC, like the Health Department, has been on a monthslong legal tear to clamp down on providers and hospitals that offer gender-affirming care. Gender-affirming care refers to medical interventions for minors experiencing distress that their bodies do not align with their gender identity.
This is total bonkers!
“Medical organizations must follow the science, disclose conflicts and put patients first,” said Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. in a news release praising the FTC’s action.The agency alleged that WPATH’s trans care recommendations violate the FTC Act by misleading parents and patients about the necessity and efficacy of these treatments. The FTC filed its complaint in the federal court in Fort Worth, Texas, alongside several red states, which joined the suit: Alaska, Iowa, Nebraska and Texas.
Ah... now I see. RFK Jr. has his two cents in this politically motivated attack on WPATH. And this appears to be a spinoff from a British investigation.
The Trump administration has pointed to a British government review that found the evidence supporting gender-affirming care’s efficacy is weak, and produced its own study arguing the same. The administration supported Tennessee’s defense of its law barring gender-affirming care for minors in a Supreme Court case last year that Tennessee won 6-3.
So why Texas and not Washington, D.C. to file the case? Because the FTC had recently received an unfavorable ruling from Judge Boasberg in D.C. in related litigation involving WPATH. Meanwhile, down in Texas, they had a very good chance of getting a judge that Trump appointed... and they got Judge Mark Pittman! Who is he?
- In 2022, Pittman struck down the Biden administration's student-loan forgiveness program,
- In April 2023, Pittman issued the first major ruling in the case seeking to suspend the FDA's approval of mifepristone,
And of course the Republican states are jumping on board... The Advocate writes;
The Federal Trade Commission, joined by the attorneys general of Alaska, Iowa, Nebraska, and Texas, filed the lawsuit against the World Professional Association for Transgender Health in federal court in Texas. The complaint alleges that WPATH made deceptive or unsubstantiated claims about the safety, effectiveness, medical necessity, and evidence base for puberty blockers, hormone therapy, and surgeries for young people.
It doesn't look good for us!
I'm not a legal expert, but I believe that this case is mainly to show the MAGA base that they are tough on us. The grounds they are basing their case on have been called novel and aggressive. What are its chances of succeeding? I give it a 50/50 chance to win in the Supreme Court. They seem to be essentially trying to reclassify medical consensus and clinical guidelines as "commercial marketing." It is an aggressive stretch of consumer protection law designed to bypass the traditional medical boards and go straight for the financial and legal jugular.
