New Zealand Joins Growing List of Countries Protecting Children from Puberty Blockers

Transgender, ,

New Zealand has become the latest country to stop prescribing puberty blockers to children with gender dysphoria. The move comes as nations examine the risks and lack of long-term studies on these experimental treatments.

Starting in mid-December, doctors in New Zealand will no longer be allowed to prescribe these drugs to new patients, though those currently taking them can continue.

This decision puts New Zealand more or less alongside the U.K., Sweden, Finland, most states in the U.S., and other nations that have stepped back from so-called “gender-affirming care” for children.

Public health experts and policymakers have found that science simply does not support giving puberty blockers and cross-sex hormones to kids. These drugs and procedures carry serious risks — including infertility, sexual dysfunction, impaired bone density, and cardiovascular problems.

As the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services has demonstrated, the so-called “medical consensus” regarding transgender procedures on children has been largely manufactured by pro-LGBT activists.

Whistleblowers have come forward to testify about how they were rushed through gender transitions as children without understanding the procedures’ risks, consequences, or alternatives.

In January, President Trump signed an executive order prohibiting federal funding from being used for sex-change procedures on kids, and the federal government is soon expected to propose new rules that could help protect children from sex-change procedures nationwide.

Earlier this summer, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) announced a public inquiry into whether U.S. doctors and clinics may have deceived parents and children about the risks of these procedures. The U.S. Department of Justice also subpoenaed doctors and medical facilities involved in performing sex-change procedures on minors.

In September, the U.S. Department of Justice sent Congress the federal Victims of Chemical or Surgical Mutilation Act. The proposed federal law would generally prevent doctors, hospitals, and clinics from performing sex-change surgeries on children or giving them puberty blockers or cross-sex hormones.

In 2021, lawmakers in Arkansas passed the Save Adolescents from Experimentation (SAFE) Act. This good law generally prohibits doctors from performing sex-change procedures on children or giving them puberty blockers and cross-sex hormones. The SAFE Act has been upheld in federal court and is protecting children in Arkansas right now.

The fact that more countries are putting a stop to these transgender procedures proves that Arkansas was right to pass the SAFE Act in 2021. Other states should follow Arkansas’– and New Zealand’s — example by protecting children from experimentation.

Articles appearing on this website are written with the aid of Family Council’s researchers and writers.

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Trump Administration Could Soon Roll Out Two New Rules Protecting Kids From Sex-Change Procedures

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NPR recently reported that two proposals from the Trump Administration could help protect children from sex-change procedures nationwide.

Written copies of the proposals haven’t been published yet, but NPR says it obtained a draft text of the rules.

One rule would prevent federal Medicaid funds from being used for sex-change procedures on kids. Another rule would block hospitals that perform these procedures from receiving Medicaid or Medicare funding.

The Department of Health and Human Services submitted both proposals to the Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs for review last summer. The proposed rules have not officially been published yet, but it sounds like both rules generally track with other policies the Trump Administration has implemented.

In January, President Trump issued an executive order prohibiting federal funding from being used for sex-change procedures on kids — including puberty blockers, cross-sex hormones, and sex-change surgeries.

Medical institutions and facilities who receive federal research or education grants were told to “end the chemical and surgical mutilation of children” immediately, under the order. That order prompted hospitals nationwide to stop performing these procedures on kids.

Earlier this summer, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) announced a public inquiry into whether U.S. doctors and clinics may have deceived parents and children about the risks of these procedures. The U.S. Department of Justice also subpoenaed doctors and medical facilities involved in performing sex-change procedures on minors.

In September, the U.S. Department of Justice sent Congress the federal Victims of Chemical or Surgical Mutilation Act. The proposed federal law would generally prevent doctors, hospitals, and clinics from performing sex-change surgeries on children or giving them puberty blockers or cross-sex hormones.

In recent years, men and women have testified about how they were rushed through gender transitions as children without understanding the procedures’ risks, consequences, or alternatives.

We now know pro-LGBT activists spent years manufacturing much of the medical “consensus” in support of these procedures.

Public health experts in the U.S., the U.K., Sweden, Finland, and other nations have found that science simply does not support giving puberty blockers and cross-sex hormones to kids.

In 2021, lawmakers in Arkansas passed the Save Adolescents from Experimentation (SAFE) Act generally prohibiting doctors from performing sex-change procedures on children or giving them puberty blockers and cross-sex hormones. A federal court recently upheld the law — which is good news.

We must do more to protect children from these dangerous procedures nationwide. We appreciate the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services working on federal rules to help do exactly that.

Articles appearing on this website are written with the aid of Family Council’s researchers and writers.

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Medical Expert Urges CDC to Acknowledge Gender Detransitioners

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Earlier this month, a medical expert urged the Centers for Disease Control to update its medical codes to acknowledge gender detransitioners.

The CDC’s current medical diagnostic code system only includes a code for “personal history of sex reassignment.” That makes it possible to collect data on the number of people who have undergone sex-change procedures, but it is difficult to know how many of those people later detransitioned.

In recent years, men and women have come forward with chilling testimony about how they were rushed through gender transition as children. Since then, many of them have detransitioned and no longer suffer from gender dysphoria.

On September 10, Do No Harm’s Medical Director Dr. Kurt Miceli gave a presentation at the CDC’s semiannual conference urging the CDC to establish diagnosis codes for detransitioners as well.

These diagnostic codes would help medical experts track how many people detransition after undergoing sex-change procedures, and they could shed light on the long-term consequences of sex-reassignment surgery.

Do No Harm made headlines last year with its “Stop The Harm” report analyzing gender transition data from across the country. The report used data from commercial insurance, Medicaid, Medicare, and VA claims to determine how many children in America have been subjected to sex-change procedures.

Do No Harm’s data for Arkansas reveals that from 2019 to 2023, 41 children were treated as “sex-change patients” in the state.

Of those children, the report found three underwent sex-change surgeries at UAMS. Another 38 received puberty blockers and cross-sex hormones from various facilities across the state.

The report also reveals that from 2019 to 2023, doctors and hospitals in Arkansas wrote 234 prescriptions for children to be given puberty blockers and cross-sex hormones.

Right now, Family Council is not aware of any public health data showing how many of these children have detransitioned.

In 2021, Arkansas passed the Save Adolescents From Experimentation (SAFE) Act prohibiting doctors from performing sex-change surgeries on children or giving them puberty blockers and cross-sex hormones. The SAFE Act was the first law of its kind in America. This good law spent four years tied up in federal court, but the Eighth Circuit finally upheld it as constitutional in August. Today the SAFE Act is in full effect and protecting children in Arkansas. That’s something to celebrate.

Articles appearing on this website are written with the aid of Family Council’s researchers and writers.

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