Conservative government’s ban on puberty blockers is lawful, Supreme Court rules

The Supreme Court has ruled that the Conservative government’s emergency ban on puberty blockers is lawful.

The campaign group TransActual and a young person who cannot be named tried to challenge the decision by then Health Minister Victoria Atkins to impose a ‘ban’ on puberty blockers, which suppress the natural production of sex hormones in order to delay puberty.

At a hearing on July 12, the High Court in London heard that secondary legislation prohibited the prescribing of medicines by European or private prescribers and limited NHS provision to clinical trials.

The Department of Health and Social Care and the Department of Health of Northern Ireland said the case should be dismissed.

In a ruling Monday, Judge Lang rejected objections that the ban was unlawful.

She said: “This decision required a complex and multifactorial predictive assessment, applying clinical judgement and balancing competing risks and dangers, and the court should be cautious about intervening.”

Although the emergency ban was introduced by the previous Conservative government, the court had previously heard it could be made permanent by new Labour ministers.

Health Minister Wes Streeting said earlier this month he was being “cautious” in his decision amid “a lot of fear and concern”.

Streeting has faced criticism from within his own party for his decision, with members of Labour’s LGBTQ+ wing writing to him earlier this month expressing “concern” about an indefinite ban.

More details coming soon…