FTC probe into APA urged over contradictory stances on gender-affirming care for minors

Medical group Do No Harm sent a letter Monday to the Federal Trade Commission urging an investigation into the American Psychological Association, accusing APA of holding two contradictory stances on gender-affirming care for minors, which could prove to be misleading. Chief Medical Officer of Do No Harm Dr. Kurt Miceli told The Center Square that "the American Psychological Association appears to be contradicting itself to have its cake and eat it too." The APA is "attempting to protect against regulatory action for promoting experimental and dangerous adolescent sex-change interventions, while also staving off anger from the radical gender activists who have captured the organization," according to Miceli. According to Do No Harm, the APA possesses a 2024 policy that promotes gender-affirming care in minors but also a 2025 letter to the FTC displaying caution. Miceli told The Center Square that "by promoting two irreconcilable positions, the APA is deceiving the FTC, psychologists, and minor patients and their guardians." "Make no mistake, the APA's original policy position pushes for unobstructed access to sex-rejecting interventions for children, equates non-affirmation with violence, and condemns state protections as human rights violations," Miceli said. "By recently doubling down on that position, the APA is contradicting its more measured comments to the FTC, which encourages caution and comprehensive psychological assessments rather than medical intervention," Miceli said. Miceli explained that "this raises serious questions about the APA's maneuvering and if serious regulatory action is in order." "As the FTC continues to investigate WPATH, the American Academy of Pediatrics, and the Endocrine Society for potentially deceptive practices in 'gender-affirming care,' we recommend that it launch a similar investigation into the APA," Miceli said. The FTC and the APA have not yet responded to The Center Square's request for comment. In its letter to the FTC, Do No Harm outlines how the 2024 APA Policy Statement supports gender-affirming procedures for minors and opposes state bans on gender affirming care for children, while also listing "non-affirmation" of a preferred gender as "violence." Meanwhile, a letter the APA sent to the FTC in 2025 "adopts a far more cautious, tempered tone focused on psychological assessment rather than medical intervention" as it relates to gender dysphoria in minors. Do No Harm's letter reads: "The 2024 Policy Statement explicitly endorses medical gender-affirming care and condemns non-affirmation as harmful, while the 2025 FTC submission appears to walk that back in the face of regulatory scrutiny." "An investigation into potentially unfair or deceptive trade practices in this space must examine why the nation's largest psychological organization appears to present one face to the public and practitioners and a different face to federal regulators," the letter said. "The APA cannot have it both ways," the letter said. "These conflicting messages, which will influence how psychologists and other providers counsel children and families on irreversible medication interventions, are misleading to consumers, patients, and the FTC." Executive Director of American Parents Coalition Alleigh Marré told The Center Square that "medical organizations whose mission is to provide guidance to healthcare providers across the country continue to prioritize transgender ideology over the wellbeing of children." "The evidence continues to show that allowing children to undergo experimental and irreversible gender interventions have detrimental effects, but groups like the American Academy of Pediatrics and the American Psychological Association remain committed to propping up the ideology," Marré said. "American parents deserve medical guidance from these institutions that prioritize their children," Marré said. "American Parents Coalition continues to support public officials who are pushing back on allowing transgender ideology to be promoted and pushed onto our kids."