<
https://theconversation.com/puberty-blockers-why-politicians-overriding-doctors-sets-a-dangerous-precedent-270246>
"The government’s ban on puberty blockers for gender-affirming care marks a
troubling shift: politicians are now making decisions that should sit with
clinicians working alongside young people and their families or whānau.
Puberty blockers have been used in gender-affirming healthcare for decades.
They temporarily suppress the hormones that cause pubertal development, giving
young people and their families time to make informed decisions without the
pressure of irreversible bodily changes proceeding in a direction that may not
fit who they are.
They can also reduce the need for later interventions such as hair removal,
voice therapy or chest surgery. If treatment stops, puberty resumes – a key
reason they are considered an appropriate early intervention in international
clinical guidelines.
The government has framed its decision as a “precautionary”, citing England’s
Cass Review, which emphasises the need to see mental health improvements
before allowing these medications to continue to be used.
This reflects a fundamental misunderstanding of what puberty blockers are
designed to do.
Puberty blockers are not a mental health treatment and are widely accepted as
effective at their actual purpose: pausing unwanted physical changes.
They do not themselves change the body in ways that affirm a person’s gender.
Any mental health benefit is secondary and shouldn’t be the central measure of
whether they work.
Despite this, reviews like
Cass still call for mental health improvements,
repeating an outdated framing that assumes gender-affirming care is about
treating a mental health condition.
It is also important to note that evidence for mental health outcomes is
contested rather than lacking – and many other paediatric treatments continue
to be used despite having similarly limited or even weaker evidence."
Cheers,
*** Xanni ***
--
mailto:xanni@xanadu.net Andrew Pam
http://xanadu.com.au/ Chief Scientist, Xanadu
https://glasswings.com.au/ Partner, Glass Wings
https://sericyb.com.au/ Manager, Serious Cybernetics
