England’s National Health Service has announced that it will no longer prescribe puberty blockers to people under the age of 18 who are experiencing gender dysphoria.
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Under the new guidelines puberty blockers will only be utilised if they are part of an approved scientific trial. Announcing the ban the NHS said they had come to the conclusion that there was not currently enough evidence into the safety of effectiveness of the treatment.
The decision applies to the National Health Service operated facilities in England but does not include Scotland. Nor does it stop patients from getting treatment at private clinics.
The change in approach will not affect people who are currently taking the medication, nor will it affect young people who have already been referred to NHS gender clinic, but new clients will not be able to access the medication.
Authorities made the announcement ahead of an independent review into gender services being published. The interim report from the review by Dr Hilary Cass was published in 2022 and flagged that there were “gaps in evidence” around the use of the drug’s effectiveness.
The NHS had already announced that it will close down the central Tavistock Clinic in London and instead open two new facilities. One will be located in London at the great Ormond Street Hospital, while the other will be in Liverpool. The new facilities will have a greater focus on holistic treatment.
The review of the facility and the approach being taken by doctors was ordered after there was a year on year rise in the number of children seeking treatment for gender dysphoria and some medical professionals raised concern over the approach being taken.
The decision has led to a wave of calls for a similar ban to be introduced in Australia.
Former British Prime Minister Liz Truss pushes for law banning all use of puberty blockers in gender treatment
British politician Liz Truss, who briefly served as the country’s Prime Minister, has put forward a private member bill that calls for use of puberty blockers in the treatment of gender dysphoria to be made illegal.
Truss put forward her Health and Equality Acts (Amendment) Bill which calls for an end to all use of puberty blockers on transgender youth, enforced single sex spaces as being based on gender assigned at birth, and limited teachers from assisting children who wanted to identify as a different gender.
The bill stalled on Friday though when Labour MPs spent too much time on discussion about other bills and there was no time left to debate the bill put forward by Truss. Government MP’s have denied they filibustered to kill of the bill.
Truss said there was no need for such a long discussion about a bill that focused on the importation of cats, dogs and ferrets.
“I’m furious that Labour MPs have filibustered in Parliament today to prevent debate of my private member’s Bill.” Truss said on Friday.
“Concerned parents will want to know why Labour don’t even want to discuss how to protect children and single sex spaces, let alone put those protections into law.
“Labour cares more about ideology than the protection of children. It is vital that we legislate to safeguard single-sex spaces and prevent children from making irreversible decisions about their bodies.
“These policies have popular support and legislation is required in this area because non-statutory guidance gives too much latitude to extremist ideologies determined to use any loopholes available to promote their dangerous agenda.” Truss said.
Sky News presenter Liz Storer says NHS decision of puberty blockers is “a win for humanity”.
Liz Storer, the conservative pundit who cohosts the Sky News program The Late Debate described the NHS decision as a “win for humanity.”
Appearing Wednesday night’s program Storer said the decision was one that would make people want to dance in the street and hug their neighbour.
“This a massive win.” Storer said, before incorrectly reporting that the decision would apply to all of the United Kingdom.
“It’s time to admit these thousands of kids have effectively been serving as guinea pigs this entire time – for shame – but what a win for humanity, common sense has finally prevailed.” Storer said.
Storer then went on to voice her opposition to bans on conversion therapy, saying that people in the education system, social media influencers, movies and cartoons were “converting kids into being confused about their gender.”
Cohost James MacPherson said the NHS decision strengthen calls for a national inquiry into Australia’s medical treatment of transgender youth, while the show’s third host Caleb Bond said more attention needed to be paid to people who detransition, arguing that it was a common occurrence.
Despite Bond’s claim, multiple scientific studies have shown that the rate of regret among people who undergo gender treatment is extremely low.
A study published in the journal JAMA Pediatrics on 4th March 2024 which looks into data from Perth’s Pediatric Gender Clinic showed that 5.3% of young people reidentified with the birth registered sex before or during assessment, only 1% of patients who initiated medical treatment detransitioned. The result is in line with multiple studies conducted around the globe.
Graeme Watson
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