England's top health authority just came out against puberty blockers for children



Luteinizing hormone-releasing hormone agonists, also called GnRHa drugs, have long been used to chemically castrate sex offenders.

In recent years, these sex offender drugs were rebranded as puberty blockers and offered to confused children — despite ample evidence that such treatments create sexless adults, deplete victims' bone density, hamper cognitive development, and produce a myriad of adverse emotional effects.

While these transmogrifying treatments remain legal in American blue states, across the Atlantic, resistance is growing among some early adopters. That's certainly the case in the United Kingdom, where England's top health authority has pumped the brakes on the victimization of children captive to the notion that their sex and gender are somehow misaligned.

National Health Service England confirmed Tuesday that minors will no longer be prescribed puberty blockers at so-called gender identity clinics.

NHS England has been working up to this decision for years, having commissioned an independent expert review of gender identity services for minors in September 2020.

The health service figured it was prudent to pursue such a review in light of the massive spike in referrals for minors to the Gender Identity Development Service run by the scandal-plagued and soon-to-be shuttered Tavistock clinic and the Portman NHS Foundation Trust.

Whereas there were 250 referrals to the NHS' gender clinic in between 2011 and 2012, that number skyrocketed to over 5,000 between 2021 and 2022.

NHS England also noted at the outset of the review that "a significant number" of children seeking puberty blockers were mentally compromised and presenting with "other mental health needs and risky behaviors," prompting careful consideration and additional research.

A policy document dated March 12 states, "Puberty suppressing hormones (PSH) are not available as a routine commissioning treatment option for treatment of children and young people who have gender incongruence / gender dysphoria."

The document notes that "[g]ender atypical behavior is common among young children and may be part of normal development. ... Children who meet the criteria for gender incongruence / gender dysphoria may or may not continue to experience the conflict between their physical gender and the one with which they identify into adolescence and adulthood."

In addition to recognizing that the supposed problem puberty blockers are supposed to resolve is often just a fleeting fad, the NHS noted that puberty blockers don't do what LGBT activists claim they do.

The NHS-commissioned review found that across nine observational studies, "there was no statistically significant difference in gender dysphoria, mental health, body image and psychosocial functioning in children and adolescents treated with GnRHA."

This finding resonates with the explosive Finnish study published last month in the esteemed journal BMJ Mental Health that found sex-change medical interventions "do not have an impact on suicide risk."

Extra to noting that puberty blockers effectively don't help, the NHS noted that they can actually do considerable harm: "GnRHa may reduce the expected increase in lumbar or femoral bone density during puberty."

"We have concluded that there is not enough evidence to support the safety or clinical effectiveness of PSH to make the treatment routinely available at this time," concluded NHS England.

This announcement came just days after leaked internal documents from the World Professional Association for Transgender Health showed proponents of so-called gender-affirming care privately admit that sex-change medical interventions are often unethical and unscientific.

The Independent reported that the NHS will be rolling out two new services, one in London and the other in Liverpool. Rather than sterilize children, these clinics will provide patients with access to mental health and pediatric health experts, "resulting in a holistic approach to care."

The Conservative government applauded the decision.

Health Minister and parliamentarian Maria Caulfield said she welcomed "this groundbreaking change as children's safety and well-being are paramount."

Caulfield told the Independent, "Ending the routine prescription of puberty blockers will help ensure that care is based on evidence, expert clinical opinion and is in the best interests of the child."

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Biden DOJ challenges Tennessee's ban on genital mutilation of children: 'Federal overreach at its worst'



Tennessee's democratically elected lawmakers and governor successfully executed the will of the people last month, passing a law prohibiting health care providers both from mutilating children's genitals and administering them irreversible puberty blockers. The law goes into effect on July 1 — unless, of course, the Biden Department of Justice gets its way.

The DOJ filed a lawsuit Wednesday seeking to block Senate Bill 1, claiming the law violates the Fourteenth Amendment's Equal Protection Clause by discriminating against "transgender youth."

The suit brought this week against Tennessee alleges as a fact that "every person has a gender identity."

Echoing the American Medical Association, the suit further suggests that genital mutilation and puberty blockers are "medically appropriate and necessary."

"No person should be denied access to necessary medical care just because of their transgender status," said Assistant Attorney General Kristen Clarke of the DOJ's Civil Rights Division.

Clarke added, "The right to consider your health and medically approved treatment options with your family and doctors is a right that everyone should have, including transgender children, who are especially vulnerable to serious risks of depression, anxiety, and suicide."

U.S. Attorney Henry Leventis for the Middle District of Tennessee concurred, stating, "Left unchallenged, [SB 1] would prohibit transgender children from receiving health care that their medical providers and their parents have determined to be medically necessary. In doing so, the law seeks to substitute the judgment of trained medical professionals and parents with that of elected officials and codifies discrimination against children who already face far too many obstacles."

State Republicans answered back, indicating they wouldn't be cowed on the issue.

Gov. Bill Lee said in a statement Wednesday night, "This is federal overreach at its worst, and we will work with Attorney General Skrmetti to push back in court and stand up for children."

"Tennessee is committed to protecting children from permanent, life-altering decisions," added Lee.

State Attorney General Jonathan Skremtti (R) responded to the suit, stating, "The federal government has joined the ACLU and an elite New York law firm in attacking a bipartisan law that protects children from irreversible harm. I welcome the opportunity to litigate these issues and vigorously defend Tennessee law."

Republican state Rep. Jason Zachary noted an apparent inconsistency on the part of the DOJ, listing various things minors cannot do in the state of Tennessee, extra to having their genitals removed by surgeons, including getting a tattoo, voting, working full-time, donating blood, and buying a car.

\u201cFor the DOJ, the following is a list of many things you can\u2019t do in Tennessee until you are 18:\n\nLife altering gender mutilation surgery (which the DOJ is suing to overturn)\nJoin the military\nVote\nGet a tattoo\nServe alcohol/work in a bar\nWork full time\nBuy a lottery ticket\nSign a\u2026\u201d
— Rep. Jason Zachary (@Rep. Jason Zachary) 1682562880

The DOJ appears emboldened after its success last year in challenging Alabama's Senate Bill 184 — a law that imposed a felony ban on child genital mutilation.

Judge Liles C. Burke of the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Alabama granted the DOJ a preliminary injunction blocking parts of the law in May 2022, reported the Daily News.

Burke specifically targeted the parts of the law that barred medical practitioners from prescribing puberty blockers.

According to the Alabama Political Reporter, as of January 2023, the state has had to spend over $1 million on legal counsel to defend the law and the state's children by extension.

The law is not presently being enforced.

Assistant Attorney General Clarke made clear in a March 31, 2022, letter to state attorneys general that the DOJ and the Biden administration "have a strong interest in protecting the constitutional rights of individuals who are lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, intersex, nonbinary, or otherwise gender-nonconforming, and in ensuring compliance with federal civil rights statutes."

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