Medical groups urge ‘swift action’ to protect transgender care programs

Three leading health care organizations on Monday urged the Justice Department to investigate recent threats of violence made against hospitals and physicians with transgender care programs.

The American Academy of Pediatrics, AMA and Children’s Hospital Association — which collectively represent more than 270,000 physicians and medical students and 220 children’s hospitals — coauthored a letter to Attorney General Merrick Garland, JD, asking for a federal investigation into the threats made against institutions providing gender-affirming care.

“The attacks are rooted in an intentional campaign of disinformation, where a few high-profile users on social media share false and misleading information targeting individual physicians and hospitals, resulting in a rapid escalation of threats, harassment and disruption of care across multiple jurisdictions,” the letter said.

“Our organizations have called on technology companies to do more to prevent this practice on digital platforms, and we now urge your office to take swift action to investigate and prosecute all organizations, individuals and entities responsible.”

AAP President Moira Szilagyi, MD, PhD, FAAP, said the threats are affecting all patients.

“Whether it’s 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,” Szilagyi said in a press release.

“We cannot stand by as threats of violence against our members and their patients proliferate with little consequence,” Szilagyi continued. “We call on the Department of Justice to investigate these attacks and social media platforms to reduce the spread of the misinformation enabling them.”

Centers targeted

The joint letter cited Boston and Nashville, Tennessee, as two cities recently targeted by online campaigns of disinformation and related threats of violence.

After a Massachusetts woman was charged last month with calling in a hoax bomb threat against Boston Children’s Hospital, Quincey J. Roberts Sr., executive director of Boston Mayor Michelle Wu’s Office of LGBTQ+ Advancement, issued a statement noting that Boston Children’s Hospital had become “the target of hateful, threatening messages” that were “part of a broader far-right harassment campaign directed at the LGBTQ+ community, and queer youth in particular.”

Vanderbilt University Medical Center (VUMC) in Nashville also became the target of online threats last month based on social media posts and a video about its pediatric transgender health clinic.

The medical center issued a statement saying that the posts and video “misrepresent facts” about the center, explaining that VUMC “requires parental consent to treat a minor patient who is to be seen for issues related to transgender care, and never refuses parental involvement in the care of transgender youth who are under age 18.”

Further, VUMC said the center would “continue to be committed to providing family-centered care to all adolescents in compliance with state law and in line with professional practice standards and guidance established by medical specialty societies.”

‘Shaken’

In the press release, AMA president Jack Resneck Jr., MD, said physicians “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.”

“Individuals in all workplaces have the right to a safe environment, out of harm’s way and free of intimidation or reprisal,” Resneck said.

Amy Wimpey Knight, MHA, president of the Children’s Hospital Association, stressed her organization’s commitment to “providing safe, supportive and inclusive health care environments for each and every child and family, and the clinicians and staff who are dedicated to caring for children.

“Threats and acts of violence are not a solution, nor a substitute, for civil dialogue about issues of a child or teen’s health and wellbeing,” Wimpey said in the release.

In the joint letter, the three organizations stressed their support for and commitment to health care professionals providing evidence-based care — including gender-affirming care — to youth.

“Attacks against health care institutions that threaten violence, intimidation and physical harm have left hospitals, staff, and their communities shaken,” the letter said. “Providers of evidence-based gender-affirming health care and their colleagues are facing increased stress and fear on top of the conditions they have faced while working on the frontlines of a global pandemic for nearly 3 years. Families seeking care at these institutions as well as those providing their care fear for their personal safety in the wake of these attacks.”

References:

City of Boston. LGBTQ+ advancement statement to Children’s Hospital community. https://www.boston.gov/news/lgbtq-advancement-statement-childrens-hospital-community. Published Sept. 22, 2022. Accessed Oct. 3, 2022.

Kruesi, K. Social media posts spark calls to investigate Tenn.’s VUMC. Associated Press. Published Sept. 21, 2022. Accessed Oct. 3, 2022. https://apnews.com/article/health-social-media-tennessee-nashville-730906b47882692645463fe9546a8695

Lorenz T, at al. Twitter account Libs of TikTok blamed for harassment of children’s hospitals. Washington Post. Published Sept. 2, 2022. Accessed Oct. 3, 2022. https://www.washingtonpost.com/technology/2022/09/02/lgbtq-threats-hospitals-libs-of-tiktok/.

McCausland, P. Boston Children's Hospital faces bomb threat after right-wing harassment campaign. NBC News. Published Aug. 31, 2022. Access Oct. 3, 2022. https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/boston-childrens-hospital-faces-bomb-threat-right-wing-harassment-camp-rcna45620

U.S. Attorney’s Office, District of Massachusetts. Westfield woman charged with hoax bomb threat against Boston Children's Hospital. https://www.justice.gov/usao-ma/pr/westfield-woman-charged-hoax-bomb-threat-against-boston-childrens-hospital. Published Sept. 15, 2022. Accessed Oct. 3, 2022.

Vanderbilt University Medical Center. Statement about transgender health care at VUMC. https://news.vumc.org/2022/09/21/statement-about-transgender-health-care-at-vumc/. Published Sept. 21, 2022. Accessed Oct. 3, 2022.