UK Court’s Dangerous Reversal on Puberty Blockers for Minors
A recent United Kingdom Appeals Court decision to allow puberty blockers for children was “ill-considered and dangerous,” said Ruth Institute President Dr. Jennifer Roback Morse, Ph.D.
The court reversed a 2020 ruling that those under 16 lack the capacity to give informed consent to potentially life-changing drugs, which stop the onset of puberty.
The court, while acknowledging “the difficulties and complexities” of the issue, nevertheless held that “it is for the clinicians to exercise their judgement knowing how important it is that consent [from a minor] is properly obtained according to the individual circumstances.”
Morse called this absurd. “You’re going to rely on a ‘gender-identity’ clinic, which makes money from dispensing these drugs, to assure that consent is properly obtained from a child?”
Morse noted that Keira Bell, the original plaintiff, was given hormone blockers at age 16 after just three one-hour sessions at the Tavistock clinic. She was later prescribed testosterone and had a double mastectomy at 20. Now, at 23, she is in the process of de-transitioning.
Bell said that when she began trying to reverse the process, “it was heartbreaking to realize I’d gone down the wrong path.” The drugs she started taking at 16 “irreparably damaged” her body and likely left her sterile.
“This ruling doesn’t address the fact that the previous court described these so-called gender affirmation treatments as ‘experimental,’” Morse noted. “This court ignored the seriously under-studied, long-term consequences of puberty blockers. If adults don’t fully know what these powerful hormonal interventions do to a young person’s body, how do we expect someone under age 16 to know?
“You can’t drive, vote, or enlist in the military in the United Kingdom when you’re under 16. But, according to ‘trans’ activists, minors have the maturity and discernment to take drugs that could radically alter their body chemistry in preparation for chemical castration and surgical alteration in the future. Something is clearly wrong here.”
The Ruth Institute is a global non-profit organization, leading an international interfaith coalition to defend the family and build a civilization of love.
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