Kate Quiñones
A United Kingdom high court judge upheld the British government’s emergency ban on puberty blockers for minors on Monday, finding the blockers carry “very substantial risks and very narrow benefit”.
Advocacy group TransActual challenged the UK’s ban along with a 15-year-old who remains unnamed due to a court order.
Justice Beverly Lang cited England’s National Health Service (NHS) study that preceded the restrictions, calling it “powerful scientific evidence in support of restrictions on the supply of puberty blockers on the grounds that they were potentially harmful” in her decision.
The 2022 restrictions, based on a study known as the Cass Review, prevent the prescription and supply of gonadotropin-releasing hormone analogues known as “puberty blockers” for minors except when used in clinical trials.
While the emergency ban on prescribing puberty blockers is set to expire in September, the UK government has set “indefinite restrictions” on puberty blocker prescriptions within England, in line with NHS guidelines.
TransActual condemned the court decision in a July 29 statement, saying that the study was led by “anti-trans” academics.