UPDATE: GetUp! has pulled a petition seeking the deregistering of a Sydney doctor because she appeared in an advertisement opposing same-sex marriage declaring it "inappropriate content".

GetUp! - which facilitated the petition and described it as "powered by GetUp!" immediately distanced itself from the petition after the revelation in The Australian last week.

The petition, which gathered more than 5000 signatures over the past five days, sought to have Sydney GP Pansy Lai face formal complaints to the Australian Medical Association and the Australian Health Practitioner Regulation Authority for her deregistration and banning from practice as a doctor.

Dr Lai appeared as one of three mothers in the Marriage Coalition television advertisement promoting the No case against same-sex marriage and criticising fluid gender theory in schools.

The petition accused her of a breach of ethics for supporting traditional marriage and endangering the lives of young people.

Dr Lai told The Australian she was alarmed by the petition which attempted to cut off her livelihood and was a threat to freedom of speech.

GetUp! said there had been dozens of complaints about the petition and was "found to be in breach" of the terms and conditions for petitions facilitated by GetUp! and the petition organisation CommunityRun.

"CommunityRun campaigns are not run or endorsed by GetUp!,'' a spokesman told The Australian this morning. "This is made clear on the home page and 'about us' page of the CommunityRun website.

"CommunityRun is a decentralised platform - much like YouTube or Change.org - where any member of the public can upload a petition," he said.

"GetUp! does not support a petition targeting Dr Pansy Lai, which was uploaded over the weekend, nor did GetUp! endorse or organise it. The petition received dozens of complaints, which triggered a review process. Following the review, the petition was found to breach CommunityRun's terms and conditions and was taken down on Monday morning.

"GetUp! remains opposed to a plebiscite for many reasons, and condemns personal attacks against individuals on either side of the campaign," he said.

GP in No same sex marriage ad faces deregistration bid

A GP who featured in an advertisement against same-sex marriage is now the subject of an online petition to have her medical licence stripped.

More than 6000 people have signed in support of the petition which calls for a "review of the registration of Dr Pansy Lai".

Dr Lai, who practices in northern Sydney, appeared as one of three mothers in the Marriage Coalition advertisement

She told The Australian she has been inundated with phone and social media threats since the ad was released.

Dr Lai reported one threat to police that she would be shot "this week".

The online petition, backed by GetUp!, calls on the Australian Medical Association to deregister Dr Lai "for violation of its code of ethics and violation of the Declaration of Geneva by her participation in the recent 'no' campaign against marriage equality".

Dr Pansy Lai appears in the 'no' ad.

"Young people who identify as LGBTIQ are 10 times more likely to die by suicide than the general population of young people,'' the petition says.

"Research clearly shows that the prejudice, discrimination, abuse and exclusion these young people experience have a direct impact on their mental health and wellbeing.

"Young people who identify as LGBTIQ have an 80% likelihood of experiencing physical violence at school due to their sexuality or gender. We know that the trauma caused from such events can have a detrimental lifelong impact on an individuals wellbeing."

The petition goes on to say about the Geneva declaration:

"The Declaration clearly states that "I will not permit considerations of age, disease or disability, creed, ethnic origin, gender, nationality, political affiliation, race, sexual orientation, social standing or any other factor to intervene between my duty and my patient".

Reader poll Do you think that Dr Lai should have her medical license revoked? This poll ended on 11 September 2017. Current Results Yes - she has an ethical obligation not to discriminate and her stance in the 'Say No' ad proves that she couldn't do that. 22% No - her views have nothing to do with her job. 67% I don't think she should lose her medical license but there should be some repercussions. That type of attitude is not ok. 9% This is not a scientific poll. The results reflect only the opinions of those who chose to participate.

"It is clear that Dr Pansy Lai has misused her privileged position as a medical practitioner in the harmful and hateful 'no' campaign, which is a clear violation of her oath to the Declaration. She has used her standing as a medical professional to directly cause harm to the LGBTIQ population, in direct opposition to her ethical obligation to be supporting the health and welfare of people."

Lev Lafayette, the creator of the GetUp! Australia-hosted petition, defended the decision in response to The Australian and said he did not believe it was a form of bullying.

"One must ask if it goes the other way as well," he said. "When misrepresentations are made against same-sex attracted people, have they not been bullied for a long time?

"Isn't the denial of marriage equality a form of bullying?" ­Coalition for Marriage spokeswoman Monica Doumit said the threat to Dr Lai's career would apply to any doctor who spoke against the Yes case.

Dr Lai said she had spoken as a parent and many parents had come to her since last week to express their concerns about whether they could speak against same-sex marriage or the imposition of gender theories at school