The American Academy of Pediatrics filed a lawsuit on Tuesday accusing the U.S. Federal Trade Commission of launching an investigation concerning its support of gender-affirming care for transgender youth as part of an effort by President Donald Trump‘s administration to retaliate against the medical group.
The pediatricians association in a lawsuit filed in federal court in Washington, D.C., challenged a demand the FTC made last month that AAP turn over an array of information as part of what the group called an unconstitutional effort to punish it for its support for treating transgender youth.
It said the FTC’s document demand is overbroad and was issued to intimidate it in violation of the U.S. Constitution’s protections against government abridgment of freedom of speech after earlier disagreements with the Trump administration.
“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,” AAP alleged in the lawsuit, which seeks a judicial order blocking the document request as unconstitutional.
