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High Court rules Tory ban on puberty blockers using emergency legislation WAS lawful

todayJuly 29, 2024 4

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The High Court has ruled a ban on puberty blockers introduced by the Conservative government using emergency legislation was lawful.

Campaign group TransActual, and a young person who cannot be named, made a bid to challenge the decision of now-shadow health secretary Victoria Atkins to impose a so-called “banning order” on puberty blockers.

The treatment, which suppresses the natural production of sex hormones to delay puberty, has proved controversial with Health Secretary Wes Streeting later said he was “treading cautiously” in his decision amid “lots of fear and anxiety.”

At a hearing today, the High Court in London heard the secondary legislation prevents the prescription of the medication from European or private prescribers and restricts NHS provision to within clinical trials.

The Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) and the Department of Health in Northern Ireland defended the claim and said the case should be dismissed.

In a ruling today, Mrs Justice Lang dismissed the challenges which had argued the ban was unlawful.

She said: “This decision required a complex and multi-factored predictive assessment, involving the application of clinical judgment and the weighing of competing risks and dangers, with which the court should be slow to interfere.”

Although the emergency ban was implemented by the previous Conservative government, the court previously heard that it might be made permanent by new Labour ministers.

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Wes Streeting has faced criticism from within his own party for the decision, with members of Labour’s LGBT wing writing to him earlier this month with “concerns” about an indefinite ban.

Reacting to today’s ruling, the Health Secretary said: “I welcome the court’s decision today. Children’s healthcare must be evidence-led.

“Dr Cass’s review found there was insufficient evidence that puberty blockers are safe and effective for children with gender dysphoria and gender incongruence. We must therefore act cautiously and with care when it comes to this vulnerable group of young people.

“I am working with NHS England to improve children’s gender identity services, and to setting up a clinical trial to establish the evidence on puberty blockers. I want trans people in our country to feel safe, accepted, and able to live with freedom and dignity.”

More to come…

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