ATTORNEY GENERAL RAOUL LEADS COALITION OPPOSING FTC EFFORT TARGETING PROVIDERS OF GENDER-AFFIRMING CARE

ATTORNEY GENERAL RAOUL LEADS COALITION OPPOSING FTC EFFORT TARGETING PROVIDERS OF GENDER-AFFIRMING CARE

September 27, 2025

Chicago - Attorney General Kwame Raoul co-led a multistate coalition on Friday in opposing a Federal Trade Commission (FTC) effort targeting providers of gender-affirming care to minors.

On July 28, the FTC issued a Request for Public Comment to solicit public information about gender-affirming care, especially as it relates to minors. According to Raoul and the coalition, the FTC's request was a badly disguised effort to intimidate and interfere with the deeply private relationship between health care providers and the patients who rely on them for medically necessary gender-affirming care.

"The Trump administration's attempt to politicize an independent consumer-protection focused agency is unprecedented and the latest in a string of discriminatory laws and policies targeting the very existence of the transgender community. Relying on faulty pseudoscience to attempt to punish health care providers for upholding their medical oath is illegal and sets a dangerous precedent," Raoul said. "I will continue to partner with my colleagues to protect the rights of the LGBTQ+ community and the right of transgender individuals to access the health care they need."

In their comment letter to the FTC, Raoul and the coalition explain federal law does not give the FTC any authority to regulate the practice of medicine or to interfere in the private relationship between patients and their health care providers. In addition, there is no basis for the FTC to single out providers of gender-affirming care compared to any other health care practitioner for investigation into whether they engage in the unfair or deceptive practice of medicine.

The letter highlights that gender-affirming care providers "are guided by standards of care issued by professional medical organizations and endorsed by numerous major medical associations, including the American Academy of Pediatrics, the American College of Physicians, the American Psychiatric Association and the American Psychological Association."

Gender affirming care has been practiced in the U.S. since the early 20th century. Puberty-delaying medications as well as hormone therapies are FDA-approved, have been studied extensively, and have been widely and safely used in clinical settings for many years by both cisgender and transgender adolescents as a treatment for gender dysphoria, as well as a range of other health conditions. In fact, research suggests that categorical prohibitions on gender-affirming care for minors meet the diagnostic criteria for medical neglect.

Studies have also shown that patients who are able to access gender-affirming care generally report very high levels of satisfaction with the care and positive impacts on their mental and physical health. Transgender youth who receive gender-affirming care see their rates of anxiety and depression dramatically improve to mirror those of their cisgender peers.

Joining Raoul in submitting this comment letter are the attorneys general of Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, the District of Columbia, Hawaii, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Nevada, New Jersey, New York, Oregon, Rhode Island, Vermont and Washington.