WASHINGTON, D.C. – This week, America First Legal (AFL), on behalf of Alabama Attorney General Steve Marshall and 21 other state Attorneys General, filed an amicus brief in the U.S. District Court of Maryland in PFLAG, Inc. v. Donald J. Trump, defending President Trump’s Executive Orders 14187, Protecting Children from Chemical and Surgical Mutilation, and 14168, Defending Women from Gender Ideology Extremism and Restoring Biological Truth to the Federal Government.
The coalition’s brief argues that the plaintiff’s case is based on misleading claims and lacks substantial scientific evidence. Specifically, the plaintiffs rely on the “Standards of Care Version 8” (SOC-8) by the World Professional Association for Transgender Health (WPATH), which WPATH itself admits were developed as a legal tool — not an evidence-based standard. In fact, WPATH’s own evidence-review team found little to no evidence supporting SOC-8 for children and adolescents, and some SOC-8 authors opted out of the evidence-review process entirely. Despite this, former Assistant Secretary for Health at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Admiral Rachel Levine, demanded that WPATH remove all age limits for cross-sex hormones, puberty blockers, chest surgeries, and even irreversible genital removal surgeries from its Standards of Care Version 8.
Last year, a leading National Institutes of Health (NIH) study found that puberty blockers did not improve mental health outcomes. However, researchers refused to publish these findings, saying they didn’t want the findings “to be weaponized.” Thus, the “scientific research” on “gender-affirming care” for children lacks scientific integrity and was unduly influenced by political and legal considerations rather than robust medical research.
Accordingly, the coalition urges the Court to deny the plaintiff’s preliminary injunction and allow President Trump’s Executive Orders to protect American children from radical, unscientific, and irreversible chemical and surgical procedures.
AFL is proud to stand with Attorney General Marshall of Alabama and Attorney Generals Treg Taylor of Alaska, Tim Griffin of Arkansas, James Uthmeier of Florida, Chris Carr of Georgia, Raúl R. Labrador of Idaho, Theodore E. Rokita of Indiana, Brenna Bird of Iowa, Kris W. Kobach of Kansas, Liz Murrill of Louisiana, Lynn Fitch of Mississippi, Andrew Bailey of Missouri, Austin Knudsen of Montana, Michael T. Hilgers of Nebraska, Drew H. Wrigley of North Dakota, Gentner Drummond of Oklahoma, Alan Wilson of South Carolina, Marty Jackley of South Dakota, Jonathan Skrmetti of Tennessee, Ken Paxton of Texas, Jason Miyares of Virginia, and John B. McCuskey of West Virginia in fighting to protect American children from dangerous gender ideology extremism.
Statement from Ian Prior, America First Legal Senior Advisor:
“President Trump has delivered on his promise to end taxpayer-funded chemical and surgical mutilation of children. We are proud to represent 22 states in support of the president’s lawful executive order and look forward to the day in the near future when this horrific practice is relegated to the dustbin of history,” said Ian Prior.
Read the brief here.
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