Woodhull Calls on FTC to Abandon Biased Inquiry on Gender-Affirming Healthcare
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE — September 29, 2025 — Washington, DC
Washington, DC. On September 26, 2025, Woodhull Freedom Foundation submitted a comment to the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) as part of the agency’s public inquiry on gender-affirming healthcare. Woodhull’s submission can be accessed here.
In a Press Release, the FTC stated that the inquiry was intended to “better understand how consumers may have been exposed to false or unsupported claims about ‘gender-affirming care’, especially as it relates to minors, and to gauge the harms consumers may be experiencing.” The FTC encouraged members of the public to comment on any issues or concerns relevant to the inquiry topic.
Woodhull submitted a comment to sound the alarm at the harmful, misleading, and biased premise underpinning the inquiry. Woodhull strongly asserted that the request for information demonstrated that the FTC is no longer acting like an independent agency meant to protect consumers from deceptive and fraudulent practices. Woodhull called out the fact that the FTC has, instead, become a tool of President Trump’s administration to further their devastating assault on transgender and gender-diverse communities across the country. Woodhull strongly urged the FTC to abandon the investigatory effort regarding gender-affirming care.
In response to the FTC’s inquiry on gender-affirming healthcare, Woodhull President and CEO Ricci Joy Levy stated:
“This inquiry is a blatant abuse of power. By targeting gender-affirming healthcare, the FTC is not protecting consumers—it is carrying out a political attack designed to erase transgender and gender-diverse people.
Gender-affirming care is safe, essential, and lifesaving, and no federal agency should be complicit in denying people the medical care they need to survive and thrive.
Woodhull will never stand by while ideology and hate are dressed up as regulation. We demand the FTC abandon this dangerous and discriminatory effort immediately.”
As evidence of the critical need to protect transgender and gender-diverse individuals’ access to gender-affirming healthcare, Woodhull included their publications on the topic as part of the submission to the FTC. These publications can be accessed on the Woodhull website:
- Banning Gender-Affirming Care in Texas
- Caring for Trans Youth
- Denying Gender-Affirming Care for Trans Youth
- How To Stand Up For Kids In The Wake of US v. Skrmetti
- Improving Access to Gender-Affirming Care in Hawaii
- Missouri’s HB 2885 Criminalizes Supporting Trans Kids
- Pro-Trans Bills in Colorado
- Texas’ Anti-Trans Directive
- The Destruction of Gender-Affirming Healthcare for NYC Trans Youth
- The Right to Gender Affirming Care
- Trans Health Care Under Trump
- Transgender People Aren’t Sick – They Are Failed By An Inadequate Classification System
In the submission, Woodhull also included Advocates for Trans Equality’s report Health and Wellbeing: A report of the 2022 U.S. Transgender Survey, which provides crucial findings on the centrality of gender-affirming care for the health and well-being of transgender individuals.
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Woodhull Freedom Foundation Media Relations
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About Woodhull Freedom Foundation
Headquartered in Washington, DC, the Woodhull Freedom Foundation is a non-profit organization that works to change laws, policies, and practices across a range of issues that deny or threaten people’s fundamental human right to sexual freedom. Founded in 2003, Woodhull is the preeminent voice at the intersection of sexual rights and human rights that continues to fight against the tyranny of widespread sexual repression in America. To learn more, visit www.woodhullfoundation.org.
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