England’s National Health Service has announced it is limiting the use of puberty-blocking drugs for minors and will allow them only “as part of clinical research” following an evaluation of medical practices for purported “gender transitions.”
Its interim policy, announced June 9, proposes that “puberty-suppressing hormones (GnRH analogues) are ‘not routinely commissioned’ as there is not enough evidence to support their safety or clinical effectiveness as a routinely available treatment and that they should only be accessed as part of research.”
The NHS document advises that “outside of a research setting, puberty-suppressing hormones should not be routinely commissioned for children and adolescents who have gender incongruence/dysphoria.”
Gender dysphoria is the perception that one’s birth sex does not match one’s perceived gender identity.
The guidance ‘will go down in safeguarding history’ as hormone-suppressing drugs will not be routinely recommended at two new clinics.
People under 18 can still be given puberty blockers in exceptional circumstances, the NHS said, and a clinical study on their impact on kids is due to start by next year.
Four new regional clinics are due to open later this year. They replace London’s Gender Identity Development Service, previously the only facility of its kind in England. It is scheduled to shut down after a review said it was overburdened by increasing demand and there was not enough evidence about the outcomes of its treatment.
The UK has centralized data, due to their national health service, so they know what a catastrophe this is
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) June 9, 2023
