At the recent annual meeting of the AMA House of Delegates, the Endocrine Section Council, comprised of delegates from the American Association of Clinical Endocrinology, American Society for Reproductive Medicine and the Endocrine Society, proposed a resolution advocating for the AMA to oppose all criminal and legal penalties against patients and their families seeking gender affirming care and physicians who care for those individuals. The resolution also called for the AMA to work with state and specialty organizations to advocate against state and federal legislation that would prohibit or limit gender affirming care. Currently 18 states have laws that restrict access to gender affirming care through state law and Florida has banned gender affirming care for minors through their state Board of Medicine.

The resolution to keep the government out of the examination room regarding gender affirming care passed easily after convincing testimony in the Reference Committee by our Endocrine Section Council delegates, and a coalition of other physicians from a broad range of specialty and state societies. The passage of this resolution will pave the way for the AMA and others to work together to advocate at the state and federal levels, to ensure access to anyone who seeks gender affirming care.

The resolution is in line with the AACE policy statement: The Sanctity of the Physician-Patient Relationship, issued in September 2022.