The UK government has announced that puberty blockers for under-18s will be banned indefinitely across the UK, except for use in clinical trials.

Health Secretary Wes Streeting said the decision was taken “based on the evidence and advice of clinicians, not politics or political pressure”

The Department of Health and Social Care said the Commission on Human Medicines (CHM) recently published independent expert advice that stated there was “currently an unacceptable safety risk in the continued prescription of puberty blockers to children”.

NHS England said the indefinite ban “closes a loophole that posed a risk to the safety of children and young people through private provision”.

The ban applies to new patients only, with NHS and private patients already receiving these medicines for gender dysphoria continuing to have access, and will be reviewed in 2027.

It also prohibits the sale and supply of these medications by prescribers from the European Economic Area or Switzerland to individuals under 18 for any reason.

A large controversy

The NHS announced in March that children would no longer be prescribed puberty blockers at gender identity clinics, followed by a ban on puberty blockers through emergency legislation in May.

The ban aligns with findings from a 2022 review for NHS England by former President of the Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health, Hilary Cass, who says that “gender medicine for children and young people is built on shaky foundations” and is “remarkably weak” evidence on medical interventions.

At that time, the UK Court of Appeal ruled that it was up to doctors to decide if children under 16 can be prescribed puberty blockers without parental consent, although months later in July 2022, the NHS closed the Tavistock gender clinic in London, while hundreds of families prepared to sue the foundation for medical negligence.

A Christian response

Talking bout the Cass Review, Peter Lynas, United Kingdom director of the Evangelical Alliance (EAUK), pointed out that, “while it obviously doesn’t contain a theological section, its conclusions are largely consistent with the biblical picture”.

Furthermore, it “opens up the space for some fascinating missional conversations about dignity, care, respect, bodies and reality, deep discussions on what it means to be human”, underlined Lynas in an article.