Latest news with #pubertyblockers
RNZ News
5 days ago
- Health
- RNZ News
Prominent medical bodies call for release of delayed gender affirming healthcare guidelines
Te Whatu Ora was due to release the guidelines in March. Photo: RNZ / Angus Dreaver Prominent medical bodies are calling on the government to allow the release of updated gender affirming healthcare guidelines after a small section on puberty blockers caused it to be delayed. The guidelines were due to be released at the end of March but it's is now unclear when they will be. The Professional Association for Transgender Health Aotearoa, who was asked by Te Whatu Ora to update the guidelines, believes the delay is "due to unprecedented and inappropriate political interference". Te Whatu Ora says it'll publish the guidelines "once decisions are made by the government following the ministry's consultation process". Public submissions on the matter closed 20 January. But PATHA says the advice on puberty blockers in the guidelines was updated in November to reflect the Ministry of Health's new position and this was approved by Te Whatu Ora's National Clinical Governance Group. It says this advice makes up only six pages out of the total 182 pages of the document. The guidelines cover all aspects of gender-affirming care to support trans and non-binary people and their families to navigate healthcare. This includes whānau support, creating inclusive clinical environments, non-medical and non-surgical gender affirmation, speech and language therapy, fertility and sexual health, mental wellbeing, gender-affirming hormone therapy, and detransition, as well as specific guidance for Māori, Pasifika, and refugee and asylum seeker trans people, PATHA said. More than 300 medical bodies, community organisations, and individual healthcare professionals have signed an open letter calling for the government to allow Te Whatu Ora to release the guidelines. These include General Practice New Zealand (GPNZ), Royal New Zealand College of General Practitioners, The Paediatric Society of NZ, New Zealand College of Clinical Psychologists, New Zealand College of Primary Health Care Nurses, College of Child and Youth Nurses and New Zealand Nurses Organisation. PATHA president Jennifer Shields said delaying the release impacts on the ability to improve healthcare delivery and health outcomes for the transgender and non-binary population. "Less than 24 hours before the date of publication, there was an unnecessary, indefinite and unexplained delay in the publication of these clinical guidelines, we believe due to unprecedented and inappropriate political interference." In November, the government released its evidence brief on puberty blockers and a position statement which sets out its expectations for their use. It signalled its intention to consider regulating them in gender affirming care and tasked the ministry with consultation, opening up public submissions. Regulatory measures could include restricting prescribing puberty blockers in the context of gender affirming care for young people but not its use in other contexts, the ministry said. Further measures being considered by the ministry included updating clinical guidance and increasing monitoring of prescriptions. The Green Party has denounced the signalled change of approach. Medical practitioners are currently working with guidelines published in 2018. PATHA said Te Whatu Ora contacted it in 2023 to update these. "It is standard practice for guidelines to be periodically updated to ensure their content is kept up to date. PATHA submitted the updated guidelines in October 2024 and they followed the standard process for publication of a clinical guideline, and were approved by Te Whatu Ora's National Clinical Governance Group." Vice president Dr Rona Carroll said clinicians are asking for up-to-date guidance to provide appropriate and safe healthcare. "The need for this updated guidance is clear and something I hear from health professionals on a daily basis. We just want to be able to publish these guidelines so the clinicians who need them can use them." Health NZ Te Whatu Ora national clinical director primary and community care Dr Sarah Clarke said it acknowledges the guidelines currently being used are from 2018 and that the evidence base in this area continues to evolve. "In the interim, and ahead of the updated guidelines being published, our advice is that health professionals continue to provide effective care based on the best available evidence and consult and take advice from colleagues more experienced in this care when appropriate." Puberty blockers can be used as part of gender affirming care to delay the onset of puberty by suppressing oestrogen and testosterone. They are also used for precocious puberty in children, and the ministry says the same medications can be used in adults to treat endometriosis, breast and prostate cancer, and polycystic ovary syndrome. The evidence brief released in November and subsequent public consultation only looked at the use of blockers specifically as they related to gender affirming care. The ministry says overall, the evidence brief found "significant limitations in the quality of evidence for either the benefits or risks (or lack thereof) of the use of puberty blockers". Following the release of the evidence brief, the ministry directed clinicians to exercise caution in prescribing puberty blockers. At the time Shields said this was already in line with New Zealand best practice and it was reassuring to see the ministry recognise this.
Daily Mail
6 days ago
- Entertainment
- Daily Mail
Megyn Kelly makes stunning admission about her trans coverage at NBC News
Megyn Kelly shockingly declared that she 'was part of the problem' regarding NBC's coverage of transgender issues while she worked at the network. 'The news media is part of the problem. I worked at NBC. I was part of the problem while there,' Kelly, 54, admitted on her popular SiriusXM show Tuesday. 'It was early on in this whole thing, but it was, frankly - it was late enough that I should have known better,' explained the conservative commentator, who left NBC in 2018 after defending blackface as an appropriate Halloween costume. 'But the whole thing hadn't exploded in the way it has. This was back in 2018. However, NBC has learned nothing. 'They've learned nothing from the explosion of this ideology amongst children and their testimonials and the data we now have on what puberty blockers into cross-sex hormones does to a young girl's or boy's fertility and sexual function,' the one-time Fox News host continued. 'Nothing. They've paid zero attention.' In February 2018, Kelly welcomed an 11-year-old transgender girl and her family to the set of her NBC show, which ran for a little over a year. Scroll down for video: 'It was early on in this whole thing, but it was, frankly - it was late enough that I should have known better,' explained the conservative commentator , who left NBC in 2018 after defending blackface as an appropriate Halloween costume 'You're about to meet a family whose unconditional love for their children will likely Inspire you to be a more understanding, supportive parent,' Kelly said to start the segment. 'It did me.' The rest of the interview carried a similar tone - one the host said she regretted more than seven years later. 'It's all about you have to affirm, or you're a bigot,' Kelly said Tuesday, revealing how NBC higher-ups regularly 'refused' to use biological language and instead elected for preferred pronouns when discussing transgender issues. 'They refuse to use biologically based language,' she said. The acknowledgment served as a continuation of Kelly's critiques of the media's approach, which some have said borders on bias. Several have said that such coverage - especially when it involves kids - should be tempered with critical reporting. Kelly - who spent 13 years at Fox News before joining NBC - has repeatedly pointed to this dynamic on her radio show. In November, she took aim at MSNBC star Jen Psaki for what she called lying about challenges posed by trans athletes competing in women's sports. More recently, she complained about how key details in the case surrounding a transgender Nashville school shooter accused of killing six people at a Christian school she used to attend were only coming out now. They contained journal passages showing alleged killer Audrey Hales' obsession with gender identity and race, and were released by new FBI boss Kash Patel in April. Immediately after, Kelly questioned why the full scope of what was contained in the journals was kept under wraps. 'The report from the Nashville police barely touched on... the killer's struggles with her gender and her obsession with gender identity [and] alarming racial animus toward herself as a white person and how those factors contributed to the act that she committed that day,' Kelly said on April 7. 'Why do you think they excluded all of this? Why are those two things too hot to touch?' Kelly joined NBC in July 2017, six months after leaving Fox. She hosted NBC's Sunday Night with Megyn Kelly and the daytime talk show Megyn Kelly Today. Before being let go on January 11, 2019 - less than three months after her blackface comment - she was reportedly raking in $15 million a year. She was paid the remainder of her contract, reportedly $30million, at the time as well.
BBC News
21-05-2025
- Health
- BBC News
Cross-sex hormones for under 18s could be restricted or banned
Health Secretary Wes Streeting, is "actively reviewing" banning or restricting the private prescription of cross-sex hormones to young people, according to evidence given to the High lawyers say an expert panel will report in July on the use of this type of medication by under 18s wishing to change their gender. An application by campaigners for a full judicial review of the secretary of state's handling of the issue was rejected on Wednesday the application, Lady Justice Whipple said "the case had moved on substantially" as a result of the government setting up a review in April. The case calling for a full judicial review was brought after the NHS announced in December last year that under-18s would no longer be prescribed puberty blockers at gender identity argued that the prescription of cross-sex hormones should also be addressed and criticised the government's failure to Lady Justice Whipple said it was not "unreasonable or irrational" for the government to address the question of puberty blockers first and later come to cross-sex court in London was also told health officials are looking at "alternative legal mechanisms" to tackle issues around private and overseas providers who prescribe such hormones are given to people who identify as a gender that is different to their biological sex. The medication helps someone who is transitioning to develop characteristics associated with their preferred instance, it would help a trans man, a biological female who identifies as a man, develop a deeper voice and facial hair. Existing NHS guidance allows the hormones to be prescribed people aged 16 and differ from puberty blockers, which stop the onset of puberty by suppressing the release of NHS guidance allows the hormones to be prescribed to people aged 16 and case calling for a full judicial review was brought by Keira Bell and two others, who are remaining anonymous. They wanted a ban on the prescription of cross-sex hormones by non-NHS organisations, such as private clinics and overseas a teenager, Ms Bell was given cross-sex hormones after attending the now closed NHS Gender Identity Development Service (GIDS) run by the Tavistock the time she identified as male, but says she deeply regrets the decision to take medication that altered her body to this afternoon's judgment she said: "I am relieved that the secretary of state is now actively considering a ban on cross-sex hormones outside of the NHS. "These powerful drugs should not be given to children and young people."Her barrister, Zoe Gannon, had argued that while the health secretary banned the private prescription of puberty suppressing drugs in gender cases involving under-18s, he had "failed or refused" to take the same action in relation to cross-sex hormones, and this was "irrational". Iain Steele, barrister for the Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC), told the court Mr Streeting "is currently seeking clinical and expert advice from NHS England".He also said there were a wide range of medical uses for hormones, such as testosterone and oestrogen, which made decisions on whether to restrict or ban their use in different situations the judgment rejecting the application for a judicial review, Lady Justice Whipple, sitting with Mr Justice Johnson, said the secretary of state had acted said, "This is an immensely difficult and sensitive area of policy formation where there are strong and genuinely held views on each side of the debate and where there is no consensus."She added Mr Streeting was taking practical steps and was therefore entitled to more time to consider the continued that it was appropriate that there was an active review and that was to be welcomed. A Department for Health and Social Care spokesperson said children's healthcare "must always be led by evidence". "That is why this government is implementing the recommendations from the Cass Review and acted immediately to extend the puberty blockers ban and make it permanent."The government continues to work with the NHS to reform gender services to young people, the spokesperson added.
National Post
19-05-2025
- Health
- National Post
Mia Hughes: Nova Scotia ignores growing evidence against youth gender affirming care
In recent years, a clear pattern has emerged in paediatric gender medicine: every country that has reviewed the evidence for interventions such as puberty blockers and cross-sex hormones for adolescents has found it to be exceptionally weak, and responded by shifting towards cautious, psychotherapeutic care. In sharp contrast, Nova Scotia has just announced an expansion of its paediatric gender services to ensure that youth across the province can access these controversial medical treatments. Article content Article content Article content So, who is getting it right? The growing list of nations that have conducted years-long investigations into their gender clinics, commissioned gold-standard systematic reviews, and ultimately acted to protect children from unproven interventions? Article content Article content Or, is it Canadian provinces like Nova Scotia — which have done none of the above, allow ideology to guide public health policy, and continue to follow the increasingly discredited World Professional Association for Transgender Health (WPATH), an activist association posing as a medical authority, known for suppressing inconvenient evidence and letting politics shape its guidelines? Article content The evidence for the puberty suppression experiment has been shaky from the beginning, and the rationale highly questionable. Yet, it went largely unchallenged until 2020, when Finland became the first country to apply the brakes after a thorough review of the science. Sweden soon followed, then Norway, Denmark, and England. More recently, Brazil, Chile, Queensland, and Alberta have joined the retreat, and the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services just released the most scathing review to date. Article content Article content In short, every jurisdiction that has scrutinized this medical protocol has come to the same conclusion — there is no reliable proof of benefit, and the risks are too serious to allow the experiment to continue. Article content Article content For every Canadian province except Alberta to remain steadfastly committed to this treatment model as the dominos fall globally requires an extraordinary level of willful blindness. This is evident in our federal government's ongoing failure to commission an independent review of our paediatric gender clinics, and in our provincial health authorities, which continue to trust WPATH despite a deluge of revelations in recent years that the group has abandoned scientific rigour, evidence-based practice, and the Hippocratic Oath. Article content Equally troubling is that most of Canada's top media outlets choose to ignore this scandal, instead acting as mouthpieces regurgitating activist misinformation. The CBC's coverage of Nova Scotia's announcement is a case in point. Written by a trans-identified reporter, Andrew Lam, the article parrots outdated ideological talking points — such as the long-debunked claim that puberty blockers are fully reversible — as if it was settled science. The piece contains no mention of the international pivot away from this medical approach. This kind of reporting helps to create the conditions for policy decisions like the coming expansion of services in Nova Scotia.
Fox News
11-05-2025
- Politics
- Fox News
Free speech advocates praise Trump admin for speaking out on global censorship
A Canadian free speech advocate who was fined by Australian authorities spoke out after the U.S. State Department appeared to come to his defense. "It's phenomenal. The Trump administration has been tremendous on this issue," Chris Elston, popularly known as "Billboard Chris" for his custom of wearing sandwich boards with slogans on them, said. In the Australian case, Elston had been fined $806 for "obstructing public movement" in response to displaying his billboard reading "children cannot consent to puberty blockers." Elston said he was peacefully conversing with members of the public and was issued a police "move on" order before being sent away. That incident was separate from a legal challenge Elston launched in April against the country's eSafety commission after the government had his tweet of a Daily Mail article about a transgender activist seated on an Australian board. "It's such a zealous overuse of authority," Elston said. "We don't elect [officials] to decide what we can say." After he was censored, the case was included in a tweet from a State Department bureau decrying government censorship and their coercion of tech companies into targeting individuals. "Freedom of expression must be protected – online and offline," it tweeted. "Examples of this conduct are troublingly numerous. EU Commissioner Thierry Breton threatened X for hosting political speech; Türkiye fined Meta for refusing to restrict content about protests; and Australia required X to remove a post criticizing an individual for promoting gender ideology." "The United States opposes efforts to undermine freedom of expression." Lois McLatchie Miller of Alliance Defending Freedom International, which has been defending Elston, said the group believes "everybody has the right to live and speak their truth, and Chris is a great example of that." "[W]e stood up with Chris alongside the Human Rights Law Alliance in Australia to defend free speech there, but we also see in my own country in the U.K., where people are having censorship thrust upon them, even being arrested for expressing their views."
