Foreign Affairs

‘Unacceptable Safety Risk’: Major European Country Bans Puberty Blockers For Minors

The Transgender Pride Flag flies on the Foreign Office building in London on Transgender Day of Remembrance, 20 November 2017, a moment to remember all those trans people around the world who have lost their lives because of who they are. The FCO is committed to tackling prejudice, violence and discrimination against LGBT people globally. (Flickr/ Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office)

The United Kingdom (UK) indefinitely banned the use of puberty-blocking drugs for minors Wednesday after recommendations from experts that warned of an “unacceptable safety risk.”

The ban affects the sale and supply of the drugs to all citizens under 18 following an independent review by the Commission on Human Medicines, according to a press release from the British government. The ban will be reviewed in 2027.

“The Commission on Human Medicines (CHM) has provided independent expert advice that there is currently an unacceptable safety risk in the continued prescription of puberty blockers to children,” the statement reads. “It recommends indefinite restrictions while work is done to ensure the safety of children and young people.”

The UK previously halted the prescription of puberty blockers for children in March after it found “insufficient evidence to show they were safe.”

Other “gender services” for children will continue in the nation, the release stated. Patients that have already been prescribed the drugs will still have access to them.

“We are working with NHS England to open new gender identity services, so people can access holistic health and wellbeing support they need,” Health and Social Care Secretary Wes Streeting said in a statement. “We are setting up a clinical trial into the use of puberty blockers next year, to establish a clear evidence base for the use of this medicine.”

The UK’s only youth gender clinic, Tavistock Centre, was shut down in 2022 over concerns it was rushing children through sex-change procedures without proper evidence, and an investigation revealed it was “not safe” for kids.

A United States study failed to prove any efficacy in improving children’s mental health by prescribing puberty blockers, though the full results of the study have yet to be released reportedly because the researcher did not want the findings to be used by opponents of sex-change procedures for children.

The Department of Health and Social Care did not immediately respond to the Daily Caller News Foundation’s request for comment.