Vermont Attorney General Charity Clark joined a coalition of 19 state attorneys general on Mar. 10 to support the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) in its legal challenge against the Federal Trade Commission (FTC). The coalition filed an amicus brief backing the AAP’s lawsuit, which seeks to block the FTC’s demand for extensive internal information from the organization.
The issue centers on what the coalition describes as politically motivated actions by the Trump administration. The attorneys general argue that these actions threaten states’ ability to regulate healthcare and rely on independent medical guidance. “To ensure that state public health policies and medical policy are driven by the latest developments and consensus among the medical and scientific community, Vermont looks to the policies and recommendations of pediatric healthcare experts, such as the AAP,” Clark said in a statement.
According to Clark and her colleagues, state agencies often use AAP guidance when shaping policies related to childhood illnesses like measles or juvenile diabetes. They say that federal interference could compromise both quality and accuracy of this expert advice. “States must be able to rely on the quality and accuracy of this guidance, which would be compromised by politically driven interference by the federal government,” Clark said.
The attorneys general also contend that targeting professional organizations like AAP is part of a broader pattern where federal authorities disagree with established public health recommendations across various issues—not just transgender youth healthcare but also topics such as nutrition guidelines or medication safety for pregnant women. “The administration also often issues guidance that conflicts with such recommendations, not only concerning healthcare for transgender youth, but also on many different medical issues,” they said in their brief.
The coalition is asking for a preliminary injunction from the court to halt further investigative demands from the FTC while litigation continues.
