The United Kingdom has indefinitely extended its ban on prescribing puberty blockers to minors with gender dysphoria.
The Dec. 11 decision applies to England, Scotland and Wales, the BBC reported, and it followed Northern Ireland’s approval of an indefinite ban a day earlier.
The decision was largely influenced by the Cass Review, a systematic review of scientific studies examining transgender drugs on minors and an analysis of international guidelines surrounding minors experiencing gender dysphoria.
Dr. Hilary Cass, one of England’s top pediatricians, led the study, which was requested by National Health Service (NHS) England. In March, after the 388-page report released, NHS, comprised of the publicly funded health care NHS systems of England, Scotland and Wales, halted puberty blocking prescriptions to children under 18.
The U.K. emergency ban was temporarily initiated in May. It was challenged by a transgender advocacy organization called TransActual, but Britain’s high court upheld the ban.
Cass endorsed the ban, saying the puberty blockers were “powerful drugs with unproven benefits and significant risks.”
In an interview with the New York Times last May, Cass criticized the focus on gender in the midst of youth mental health struggles, saying, “We have to stop just seeing these young people through the lens of their gender and see them as whole people, and address the much broader range of challenges that they have, sometimes with their mental health, sometimes with undiagnosed neurodiversity. It’s really about helping them to thrive, not just saying ‘How do we address the gender?’ in isolation.”
Wes Streeting, the U.K.’s Health and Social Care secretary, describes puberty blockers as an “unacceptable safety risk” and a scandal because it was “given to vulnerable young children without proof that it is safe or effective.”
“Children’s healthcare must always be evidence-led,” Wes said in a press release. “The independent expert Commission on Human Medicines found that the current prescribing and care pathway for gender dysphoria and incongruence presents an unacceptable safety risk for children and young people.”
Amid the U.K.’s ban, the United States is awaiting a ruling on United States v. Skrmetti, the first Supreme Court case focused on such a ban.
The case went to the Supreme Court on Dec. 4, with Tennessee Attorney General Jonathan Skrmetti defending Tennessee’s ban on minors receiving puberty-blocking medication, hormone therapy and surgeries.
The Tennessee brief stated, “Over time, though, many of the European countries that pioneered these interventions have pulled back, restricting minors’ access based on safety and efficacy concerns” and that “Health authorities in Sweden, Finland, Norway, and the United Kingdom have all concluded that these interventions pose significant risks with unproven benefits.”
A decision is set for spring or early summer of 2025. Christians continue to pray the court will uphold Tennessee’s protection on minors.
Photo: Alamy