England's National Health Service (NHS) said Tuesday it will no longer provide puberty blockers at gender identity clinics, saying more information is needed about potential benefits and harms.
"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," the NHS said, according to The Telegraph.
Puberty blockers can be used to delay the changes of puberty in transgender and gender-diverse youth who have started puberty, according to the Mayo Clinic. They will only be publicly available to children in England who are in clinical trials, multiple media outlets reported.
Transgender youth charity Mermaids said the announcement was "deeply disappointing" and accused the NHS of "failing trans youth," Sky News reported.
There has been a strong movement in the U.S. to prohibit gender affirming care, with 23 states banning medication and surgical care for transgender youth, according to the Movement Advancement Project.
Proposals to stop the practice in England were first accepted by the NHS in July 2022, The Telegraph reported, following recommendations made in a review led by Dr. Hilary Cass, the former president of the Royal College of Pediatrics and Child Health.
Cass warned the drugs might permanently disrupt the brain maturation of adolescents, potentially rewiring neural circuits in a way that cannot be reversed and said there was a lack of long-term evidence and data collection on their safety and effectiveness.
Former British Prime Minister Liz Truss said the ban should be extended to private practices, The Telegraph reported, and called on members of Parliament to back her amendment to the Health and Equality Acts Bill to make such prescriptions to children illegal.
"I welcome NHS England's decision to end the routine prescription of puberty blockers to children for gender dysphoria," she said. "I urge the government to back my bill on Friday, which will reinforce this in law and also prevent these drugs from being supplied privately."
At least 100 children reportedly have been prescribed puberty blockers during the time the NHS has taken to make its policy decision.
"We have always been clear that children's safety and well-being is paramount, so we welcome this landmark decision by the NHS," said Maria Caulfield, the British Parliament's minister for Mental Health and Women's Health Strategy, according to The Telegraph. "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."
The NHS reportedly said it hopes it will have a research study into the use of puberty blockers in place by December, with eligibility criteria to be determined.
Michael Katz ✉
Michael Katz is a Newsmax reporter with more than 30 years of experience reporting and editing on news, culture, and politics.
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