As the U.S. Supreme Court mulls the constitutionality of Texas’ ban on providing medical transgender treatments to minors, the UK government has announced that it will indefinitely extend a ban on puberty blockers for minors.
On Wednesday, UK Health Secretary Wes Streeting told Parliament that he was making the current ban indefinite, at least until a study of the safety and value of such transgender treatments is completed and reviewed in 2027. The ban does not apply to those who are already receiving puberty blockers.
Streeting said the move is based on the advice of the UK’s Commission on Human Medicines and that prescribing such drugs to children poses an "unacceptable safety risk."
"It is a scandal that medicine was given to vulnerable children without the proof that it was safe or effective," Streeting said, because children were merely required to fill out an online form and have just one online consultation with a health care provider.
Streeting, who is gay, sent a message to the UK’s transgender community, reassuring that, despite the ban’s extension, he emphasizes with them and has their best interests at heart:
“I can’t pretend to know what that’s like, but I do know what it’s like to feel you have to bury a secret about yourself, to be afraid of who you are, to be bullied for it and then to experience the liberating experience of coming out.
“I know it won’t feel like it based on the decisions I’m taking today, but I really do care about this and so does this government. I am determined to improve the quality of care and access to healthcare for all trans people.”
A driving factor in the ban’s indefinite extension is a study conducted by Pediatrician Hilary Cass (“The Cass Report,” which found that there is insufficient evidence that putting minors on puberty blockers is safe and effective.
U.S. Supreme Court Justice John Roberts expressed the same concern last week during oral arguments in the case of United States v. Skrmetti, in which the Biden Administration and ACLU are challenging a Tennessee law (SB 1) prohibiting transgender medical treatments on minors.
Chief Justice Roberts cited a lack of medical consensus on the issue, citing the COVID-19 pandemic as an example of the detrimental consequences of acting hastily.
Tennessee lawyer Matthew Rice explained that SB1 "draws a line between minors seeking drugs for gender transition and minors seeking drugs for other medical purposes," like a congenital defect or precocious (premature) puberty.
Tennessee’s law is designed to "protect minors from risky, unproven medical interventions" that often carry "irreversible and life-altering consequences," Rice explained, noting that the state has an interest in preventing regret and detransitioning, by giving minors time to mature intellectually and appreciate their sex before making a life-altering change.
In July, the UK’s High Court upheld the UK’s ban on puberty blockers for minors, rejecting a challenge claiming that it was illegal. Meanwhile, the U.S. Supreme Court isn’t expected to release its decision until next June.