Government Should Pause Puberty Blockers

Family First NZ is calling for an urgent pause on the use
of puberty blockers, and for a full inquiry into the long
term effects and potential harms of puberty blockers and
cross-sex hormones on vulnerable young people.

There
have been significant developments around the world which
now puts New Zealand out of step with other countries who
are now taking a cautious approach.

Britain’s
National Health Service (NHS) will review all transgender
medical treatment in the wake of the CASS review which found
such treatment is built on “weak evidence.” The landmark
final report
released last week by pediatrician Dr. Hilary Cass is the
result of a major independent review
on children and gender identity commissioned
by the NHS in 2020. Cass is a former president of the Royal
College of Paediatrics and Child Health. Dr Cass said
“The reality is that we have no good evidence on the
long-term outcomes of interventions to manage gender-related
distress… The evidence we do have for gender medicine is
built on “shaky foundations,”

She also
concluded: Puberty blockers should no longer be
prescribed to children except in the context of research due
to these powerful drugs’ effects on brain development and
bone health… Cross-sex hormones — estrogen and
testosterone — should be prescribed to trans-identifying
16 and 17-year-olds only with an “extremely cautious”
approach, and there should be a “clear clinical
rationale” for not waiting until the teen is
18.”

The CASS review also concluded that
“Young people facing gender-related distress had no
significantly different levels of suicide risk to other
young people with similar levels of complex
presentations” and that there was “No evidence
that gender-affirming treatment reduces suicide
risk.”

This review backs up recent international
developments, of which there are
many:

• Scotland 2024: Scotland’s
  NHS has just paused
  prescribing puberty blockers to children referred by its
  specialist gender clinic.
• Finland study
  2024: Finnish study published
  in the BMJ Mental Health found that the suicide risk
  in a large group of adolescents was predicted by the
  psychiatric problems that often accompany gender distress,
  not by the gender distress
  itself.
• Netherlands study 2024: A
  landmark study from the Netherlands found that the majority
  of gender-confused children grow out of that feeling by the
  time they are fully grown adults.
• France
  2024: French senators have published
  a report that expresses alarm at the excesses of child
  gender transition and have proposed a bill to put an
  end to it.
• England 2024:
  The
  NHS will no longer routinely prescribe puberty
  blockers at gender identity clinics in England
  and Wales.
• The Netherlands 2024: The
  Dutch government has passed a motion to conduct
  research into the physical and mental health
  outcomes of children given puberty
  blockers.
• Italy 2023: The Italian
  Psychoanalytic Society (Società Italiana di Psicanalisi,
  SPI) issued a call
  to the Ministry of Health expressing “great concern” about
  the use of drugs that block pubertal development of minors
  diagnosed with gender dysphoria.
• Denmark
  2023: In a marked shift in the country’s approach
  to caring for youth with gender dysphoria, most youth who
  are referred to the centralised gender clinic now receive therapeutic
  counselling and support, rather than a
  prescription for puberty
  blockers.
• Norway 2023:
  After a review, the Norwegian
  Healthcare Investigation Board stated it has serious
  concerns about the treatment of gender dysphoria in children
  and that the current ‘gender affirming’
  guidelines are not evidence-based and must be
  revised.
• UK 2022: The
  UK’s Tavistock transgender clinic is shut down by the NHS
  after a review found
  it is “not safe” for children, and that there is
  insufficient evidence to recommend puberty
  blockers.
• USA 2022: The Food and
  Drug Administration (FDA) in the US issues a warning
  label about the risk of puberty
  blockers
• Sweden 2021: The Karolinska
  Hospital ceased the use of puberty
  blockers for those aged under 18
  .
• Finland 2020: revised
  its treatment guidelines, prioritising
  psychological interventions and support over medical
  interventions.
• USA 2023-24:
  A total of 22 states have so far passed
  laws protecting children from routine medicalisation of
  gender distress. The laws vary in what they
  proscribe and in the penalties imposed and some of them are
  subject to ongoing legal challenges.

The other
significant event was the recent release of internal
files from the World Professional Association for
Transgender Health (WPATH) which suggest that the
practice of transgender medicine is neither scientific nor
medical. The “WPATH
FILES” provide clear evidence that doctors and
therapists are aware they are offering minors life-changing
treatments they cannot fully understand. WPATH members know
that puberty blockers, hormones, and surgeries will cause
infertility and other complications, including cancer and
pelvic floor dysfunction. Yet they consider life-altering
medical interventions for young patients, including
vaginoplasty for a 14-year-old and hormones for a
developmentally delayed 13-year-old.

Health NZ Te
Whatu Ora says on their website
– “For referral acceptance to be considered patients
need to: meet the eligibility criteria set out in the Standards
of Care for the Health of Transsexual, Transgender and
Gender Nonconforming People, published by The
World Professional Association for Transgender Health
(WPATH) version seven.”

Up until 2020 the
Ministry of Health stated that “Puberty Blockers are a
safe and fully reversible medicine that may
be used from early puberty through to later adolescence to
help ease distress and allow time to fully explore gender
health options.” But that advice was quietly changed
by the Ministry. “Safe and fully reversible medicine”
has been removed and replaced
with “Blockers are sometimes used from early
puberty through to later adolescence to allow time to fully
explore gender health options.”

Family
First is calling on the government and the Ministry of
Health to pause the use of puberty blockers, cross-sex
hormones and operations for minors while further research is
undertaken.

It’s time we put first-do-no-harm
medicine and credible research ahead of ideology and an
agenda to push gender fluidity indoctrination. It’s time
we had watchful waiting, therapy, and healing of the mind
rather than chemicals, castration and
confusion.

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