U.S. medical associations should revise their advice on gender-affirming care in light of England's recent ban on puberty suppressing hormone treatment for...
Jonathan Saenz, head of the Christian advocacy organization Texas Values, walks up the stairs to the Texas House gallery on Tuesday, May 2, 2023, ahead of a debate on a bill to ban gender-affirming medical treatments for transgender minors.News that England’s National Health Service has effectively banned puberty-blocking drugs for children under the age of 18 should lead American health care associations to reconsider their advice on what is known as gender-affirming care.
There is increasing evidence that puberty-blocking drugs can lead to irreparable harm in developing bodies, from weakened bones to sterility when combined with cross-sex hormones. There are also important questions about the ability of children to give informed consent about treatment and whether kids who take these drugs have better health outcomes.
Many social institutions, including schools, have played a role as well. It seems obvious that parents and guardians should be informed about a child’s decision to socially transition at school. However, in too many cases across the country,where such care may be appropriate. Great Britain has recognized the same, and while hormone therapy is broadly banned, it will be permitted in some clinical trials and in certain carefully reviewed cases.
A number of European countries, from France to Sweden, have taken more cautious approaches to children’s gender therapy than the U.S. medical establishment. Here, the issue has been thrown in with the culture wars as a left-vs.-right struggle. That should never have been the case. What we need is a rigorous scientific consideration of what is in the best interests of the physical and mental health of children.The political intervention from the right came well after the medical establishment had accepted a mode of care that was broadly applied without passing scientific muster. That was a terrible error that needs correction for the sake of children..