On Monday, three medical organizations joined together to call on the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) to investigate anyone who may be responsible for “provoking and carrying out bomb threats” against transgender clinics.

The American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP), American Medical Association (AMA) and Children’s Hospital Association (CHA) drafted a letter addressed to U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland specifically concerning threats to organizations offering “gender-affirming care” to adolescents and teens.

In recent months, multiple media reports have drawn attention to how some transgender surgeries and hormone treatments, aside from being promoted to children, were being used by some organizations to increase profits. So far, none of the authors of these reports have been behind any call for violence or threats against a transgender treatment organization.

Still, the complainants are hoping to convince the DOJ to “investigate the organizations, individuals and entities coordinating, provoking and carrying out bomb threats and threats of personal violence against children's hospitals and physicians across the U.S.”

“These coordinated attacks threaten federally protected rights to health care for patients and their families,” the letter read. “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. 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.”

Additionally, the groups called on Twitter, TikTok and Meta, which owns Facebook and Instagram, to take further action to prevent “coordinated campaigns of disinformation.”

See also: UAB, Children's of Alabama pediatrician details youth transgender treatment offerings; Says kids can ‘try on’ different identities

Many people have expressed concern about the tactics the DOJ and the FBI used in recent years.  

Last year, the National School Boards Association (NSBA) sent a letter to Garland asking him to investigate attendees of local school board meetings. That letter stated that “threats” and “acts of violence” at these meetings “could be the equivalent to a form of domestic terrorism.” 

Garland gave the NSBA their wish, sending a letter to the FBI, asking them to probe the matter.

While the NSBA has since apologized for their letter, Garland has consistently stuck to his guns.

“[A]ll it asks is for federal law enforcement to consult with, meet with local law enforcement to assess the circumstances, strategize about what may or may not be necessary to provide federal assistance if it is necessary," Garland said in 2021.

Matt Walsh, a host with the Daily Wire, broke a story showing a doctor for Vanderbilt Medical Centers calling transgender surgeries “huge money makers” for their facilities.

One doctor in Walsh’s exposé also stated that employees that chose not to be involved in transition surgeries due to "religious beliefs" would suffer "consequences."

Walsh responded to the group's letter on social media, stating a DOJ investigation could become possible.

To connect with the author of this story, or to comment, email craig.monger@1819news.com.

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