Action item and prayer point is at the bottom of the article.
A coalition of concerned physicians, health care professionals, detransitioners, and parents has launched a Citizen Petition to the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) urging action to address the alarming increase in off-label use of powerful puberty-blocking drugs for minors experiencing gender dysphoria.
A Citizen Petition is an official avenue for citizens to influence actions of agencies like the FDA. It differs from a grassroots petition because it follows specific agency rules for submission and requires the agency to respond. Concerned Women for America (CWA) was instrumental in filing a Citizen Petition in 2002 asking the FDA to withdraw its approval of the abortion drug Mifeprex (RU-486).
The current petition filed in September cites the growing international consensus against the use of a class of drugs called GnRH agonists in treating children wrestling with gender identity. Countries like Sweden, Finland, and the United Kingdom who led the way in using these experimental drugs that interfere with natural development are now greatly restricting their use. Meanwhile, U.S. medical associations have ignored the dangers and continue to promote drugs and surgeries for minors as “gender-affirming care.”
Puberty blockers have never been approved by the FDA to treat gender dysphoria and directly harm bone density, brain development, and sexual functioning impacting fertility. The FDA also has received reports of vision loss and brain swelling, but it continues to ignore the growing evidence of harm and the deceptive, unproven claims that puberty blockers are effective in addressing gender dysphoria.
As a first-of-its-kind challenge, this petition urges transparency – it seeks to shine the light on the use and abuse of powerful drugs being prescribed to children wrestling with confusion and uncertainty about their identity.
Petitioners urge the FDA to take immediate steps to hold itself and the medical industry accountable and to inform the public. Specifically, it requests a systematic review of off-label use, long term registry studies, a dedicated webpage about off-label use, and a crackdown on unlawful promotion. The FDA is required to provide a response to this petition within 90 days.
Act Now: CWA can support this petition and encourage FDA action. Send a comment through our Action Center before December 1 urging the FDA to undertake all actions requested and to take immediate steps to protect vulnerable children from medical harm.
Pray: Ephesians 5:11 13 “11 Take no part in the unfruitful works of darkness, but instead expose them … 13 But when anything is exposed by the light, it becomes visible …”