A U.K. High Court judge has upheld the Tory government’s “emergency ban” on puberty blockers, which effectively bars transgender youth from accessing the medicine.
The ban was implemented by the Department of Health and Social Care in May, two months before the Labour Party won the U.K. general election. The prohibition is currently set to last from June 3 to September 3 and affects residents of England, Wales, and Scotland, stipulating that “no new patients under 18 will be prescribed” puberty blockers to treat gender dysphoria.
As The Guardian reported, this emergency legislation bypassed the usual statutory requirement to consult with a committee of medical experts before such a ban is introduced. The U.K.’s Medicines Act of 1968 states that the country’s secretary is allowed to implement such an order without consultation for up to three months, if they determine that it is “essential to make the order with immediate effect to avoid serious danger to health.”
On Monday, July 29, the High Court’s Mrs. Justice Lang ruled that the emergency ban is lawful, writing in her 62-page judgment that “it was rational … to adopt the emergency procedure to avoid serious danger to the health of children and young people who would otherwise be prescribed puberty blockers during that five- to six-month period.”
The U.K. advocacy group TransActual and an anonymous young person had legally challenged the ban earlier this month, arguing that outgoing health Secretary of State for Health and Social Care Victoria Atkins enacted the emergency legislation due to her own beliefs rather than substantial medical evidence. In a series of X posts following the ban, Atkins praised her own “bold action to protect children” following the publication of the Cass Review, a controversial U.K. review of gender-affirming healthcare. The review has been widely criticized by medical experts for its unethical data usage, its lack of credible sources, and its implicit biases.
“The evidence shows that the impetus and only disclosed rationale for the making of the order was the personal view of [Atkins] that the Cass report required immediate action,” the claimants’ lawyer, Jason Coppel KC, told the High Court in written arguments. “Officials were then tasked with working up arguments in favor of a banning order to fit that personal view.”
Speaking to the High Court last Friday, Coppel added, “There is evidence of both self-harm and suicide attempts as a direct result of the legislation.”
Studies show that puberty blockers, which are reversible, have positive mental health effects on the trans youth who receive them. A 2022 study published in the American Medical Association’s open-access journal found that participants who received puberty blockers, hormone therapy, or both were 60% less likely to report being moderately to severely depressed and 73% less likely to report suicidality. Meanwhile, the study found that depressive symptoms and suicidality were “two-fold to three-fold higher than baseline levels” for trans youth who weren’t able to receive gender-affirming care at three and six months, respectively.
Nevertheless, trans youth’s access to gender-affirming healthcare has become a popular talking point among anti-trans conservatives in both the U.S. and U.K. In 2022, for instance, Florida Governor Ron DeSantis likened the usage of puberty blockers to chemical castration during a debate.
In a statement shared to their website following the High Court ruling, TransActual shared its plans to continue challenging the U.K.’s emergency ban on puberty blockers, particularly once it expires in September, when a consultation process will be necessary before such a ban becomes permanent.
“Over the last few years, [trans youth] have come to view the U.K. medical establishment as paying lip service to their needs; and all too happy to weaponize their very existence in pursuit of a now discredited culture war,” the organization said. “We will be strongly advocating for the voices of trans young people and their families to be listened to.”
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