The High Court has declared that a ban on puberty blockers, introduced by the previous UK government under emergency legislation, was legal. Former health secretary Victoria Atkins set limits in May on the use of the drugs in children and young people with gender dysphoria using emergency powers. A trans campaign group challenged the move in court, contending that she had not consulted patient groups and misused the emergency legislation.
Health Secretary Wes Streeting has expressed satisfaction with the court’s decision, asserting that children’s healthcare must be guided by evidence. Despite this, campaign group TransActual UK has condemned the ruling and intends to seek an appeal.
In early 2021, a review of under-18 treatment with puberty-blocking drugs by Hilary Cass discovered that there was insufficient evidence supporting the use of the drugs. That March, NHS England decided that puberty blockers would no longer be standard treatment for children diagnosed with gender dysphoria. By that point, they were only available through NHS clinical trials.
The use of puberty blockers was further tightened by the Conservative government in May, following the Cass review. An emergency ban was imposed on their prescription by private and European providers. Since then, they have only been available to minors diagnosed with gender dysphoria who had already been prescribed the drugs.
TransActual challenged the order by the previous health secretary to impose further restrictions on the use of puberty blockers. Following the High Court’s decision, Mr Streeting welcomed the outcome, stating that he was working with NHS England to enhance children’s gender identity services and launch a clinical trial to determine the evidential basis for using puberty blockers on minors.
Chay Brown, director for healthcare at TransActual, has criticised the ruling, indicating that the emergency ban was decided before justification could be found. Brown expressed concern for the safety and wellbeing of young trans people in the UK, arguing that trans researchers were out of the loop while the review was led by an individual who has since been promoted to the House of Lords by the retiring Conservative government. The Good Law Project is also working with TransActual; the lawyer Bekah Sparrow argued that future consultations on young people’s healthcare should seriously involve experts and those most directly affected by any changes
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