Attorney General Marshall: Time for the American Medical Association to Follow the Evidence and Halt Support for

Hormonal Interventions for Children

Coalition Warns AMA of Potential Consumer Protection Violations

(Montgomery, Ala) – Alabama Attorney General Steve Marshall submitted a letter on behalf of 20 states to the American Medical Association (AMA) commending the organization for its recent opposition to surgical sex-change procedures for children and calling on the organization to halt its endorsement of hormonal sex-change procedures for children. The letter agrees with the AMA’s conclusion that existing research does not support using surgeries to treat gender confusion in children, but explains that the evidence base is similarly sparse when it comes to using cross-sex hormones and puberty blockers in minors. The letter warns of a potential investigation of the AMA for possible violations of consumer protection laws for misleading providers, patients, and families about the safety and efficacy of hormonal sex-change procedures for minors.

“The American Medical Association has finally admitted what many have warned for years: its recommendations for surgeries on children were not grounded in solid evidence, despite telling doctors and families otherwise,” Attorney General Marshall said. “Yet the same weak science underpins puberty blockers and cross-sex hormones. You cannot dismiss one intervention as unsupported while continuing to push the rest. When children’s lives and futures are at stake, anything less than full scientific honesty is reckless. The AMA must follow the science completely, not selectively.”

The letter notes that Alabama law prohibits organizations from representing that goods or services have “benefits” or “qualities” that they do not have or promising that specific services “are of a particular standard, quality, or grade” if they are of another. The law also prohibits any “false, misleading, or deceptive act or practice in the conduct of trade or commerce.” The letter asks the AMA to provide detailed explanations to several questions regarding the organization’s recommendation of hormonal sex-change procedures for minors.

The full letter and questions can be viewed here.

Attorney General Marshall was joined in the letter by attorneys general from Arkansas, Georgia, Idaho, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, Missouri, Nebraska, North Dakota, Ohio, Oklahoma, South Carolina, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, and West Virginia.