In a landmark decision, the NHS has confirmed children will no longer be prescribed puberty blockers at UK gender clinics following an independent review.
“We have concluded that there is not enough evidence to support the safety or clinical effectiveness of puberty-suppressing hormones to make the treatment routinely available at this time,” said the NHS.
UK Ministers welcomed the decision. Health Minister Maria Caulfield maintained that “Ending the routine prescription of puberty blockers will help ensure that care is based on evidence, expert clinical opinion and is in the best interests of the child”; Women’s Minister Kemi Badenoch said that “Evidence, not ideology, must always inform our approach to children’s health and wellbeing”; and former UK prime minister Liz Truss called on MPs to back her bill which would prevent puberty blockers from being supplied privately and make their prescription to children illegal.
Meanwhile in Australia, inquiries into 'gender affirming care' are being voted down (i.e. at the federal level, in Victoria and South Australia), gender doctors are advocating to make hormone treatments even more accessible to children, and states like NSW and Tasmania are forging ahead with 'conversion ban' laws, which risk enshrining controversial 'gender affirming treatments' like puberty blockers as best practice.
This momentous shift in the UK in the approach to treating children presenting with gender dysphoria cannot be ignored by health professionals prescribing these controversial treatments in Australia, as well as by politicians currently turning a blind eye to the harm being caused to children by puberty blockers and other forms of ‘gender affirming care’.
Women’s Forum Australia is an independent think tank that undertakes research, education and public policy advocacy on issues affecting women and girls, with a particular focus on addressing behaviours and practices that are harmful and abusive to them. We are a non-partisan, non-religious, tax-deductible charity. We do not receive any government funding and rely solely on donations to make an impact. Support our work today.
| I’ll stand with women ▷ |