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Healthcare provider organizations have asked the Justice Department to investigate ongoing threats to patients and physicians that seek and provide gender-affirming care.<\/p>\n
The American Academy of Pediatrics, the American Medical Association and the Children\u2019s Hospital Association wrote a joint letter <\/strong>to Attorney General Merrick Garland on Monday seeking an investigation into the increasing number of threats being lodged against hospitals, clinicians and patients.<\/p>\n The requests come amid a wave of political and violent threats toward institutions that provide gender-affirming care to children.<\/p>\n Boston Children\u2019s Hospital in Massachusetts has faced harassment, including a bomb threat, for weeks. Vanderbilt University Medical Center in Nashville, Tennessee, has been the subject of a conservative media campaign contending its LGBTQ clinic “mutilates” children. Republican state legislators\u00a0in Tennessee are amplifying the allegations and calling for an investigation into the\u00a0hospital’s transgender health offerings. Oklahoma Gov. Kevin Stitt (R) recently signed a bill that made OU Health, one of the largest health systems in the Sooner State, ineligible for the state’s distribution of federal COVID-19 relief funding because it provided gender-affirming treatments to youth. OU Health responded by announcing it would cut services.<\/p>\n The results have been increased threats to hospitals and the clinicians who work at them.<\/p>\n \u201cFrom Boston to Akron [Ohio] to Nashville to Seattle, children’s hospitals, academic health systems, and physicians are being targeted and threatened for providing evidence-based healthcare,\u201d the provider groups’ letter said. \u201cThese attacks have not only made it difficult and dangerous for institutions and practices to provide this care, they have also disrupted many other services to families seeking care.\u201d<\/p>\n Hospitals have had to initiate lockdowns because of bomb threats, substantially increase security for facilities and clinicians facing death threats, and even shift in-person appointments to virtual visits to protect patients and staff.<\/p>\n \u201cWhether it\u2019s newborns receiving intensive care, children getting cancer treatments or families accessing compassionate care for their transgender adolescents, all patients seeking treatment deserve to get the care they need without fear for their personal safety,\u201d American Academy of Pediatrics President Dr. Moira Szilagyi said in a news release. \u201cWe cannot stand by as threats of violence against our members and their patients proliferate with little consequence.”<\/p>\n The groups also called on major technology companies to take action against violent online rhetoric and misinformation on gender-affirming treatment. The AMA,\u00a0American Academy of Pediatrics and\u00a0Children\u2019s Hospital Association want\u00a0Twitter, TikTok and Facebook parent company Meta to better coordinate against misinformation related to gender-affirming care and to remove violent language referring to specific institutions.<\/p>\n Threats to Boston Children\u2019s Hospital originated after the conservative “Libs of TikTok” account posted a video on Twitter of a physician\u00a0talking about gender-affirming hysterectomies. The account, which has 1.4 million followers, contended the hospital was performing these surgeries on minors\u2014a claim Boston Children\u2019s Hospital denies.<\/p>\n The “Libs of TikTok” posts remain on Twitter. The social media company issued a seven-day suspension against\u00a0the account for hateful conduct, which ended\u00a0this week. Since then, the account has taken aim at a clinic that offers gender-affirming care at Barbara Bush Children\u2019s Hospital in Portland, Maine.<\/p>\n In Nashville, Matt Walsh from conservative\u00a0website the Daily Wire published an article alleging Vanderbilt University Medical Center is making lucrative profits by “mutilating” children. The report resulted in calls for an investigation into the academic medical center by Tennessee Gov. Bill Lee (R) and the Republican supermajority in the the state legislature. The sentiment was echoed by TV host Tucker Carlson, whose nightly show reaches approximately 4.5 million people.<\/p>\n \u201cAs physicians, we condemn groups that promote hate-motivated intolerance and toxic misinformation that can lead to grave real-world violence and extremism and jeopardize patients’ health outcomes,\u201d AMA President Jack Resneck Jr. said\u00a0in a news release.<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/div>\n