UK: NHS to Review All Transgender Treatment

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Facts

• Following the publication of a review by pediatrician Dr. Hilary Cass on Wednesday, NHS England said it would suspend first appointments for under-18s at adult gender clinics and conduct a major review of its gender and hormone treatments.¹
• The Cass Review — commissioned by the NHS in 2020 — found that a toxic political debate and a lack of research and 'good evidence' on the use of puberty blockers had failed British children seeking gender care.²
• Cass said that the NHS's Gender Identity Development Service used cross-sex hormone therapy on children — which changes the physical characteristics of transgender people to match their gender identity — despite allegedly 'weak' evidence that the treatment enhanced their well-being.³
• The ex-president of the Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health, Dr. Cass has made 32 recommendations to medical professionals, including refraining from 'polarization' and offering gender services to transgender children that match other NHS care.⁴
• In response to Dr. Cass's findings, Prime Minister Rishi Sunak has said that in the absence of information about the long-term impacts of transgender treatment, young people with gender dysphoria as well as adult clinics must 'exercise extreme caution.'⁵
• Though NHS England said it would review all treatment offered to children who believe they are transgender, it has already acted on Dr. Cass's previous recommendations and stopped puberty blockers for those under 16 with gender dysphoria.⁶

Sources: ¹Sky News, ²BBC News, ³Guardian, ⁴Daily Mail, ⁵ABC News and ⁶The Telegraph.

Narratives

• Narrative A, as provided by Independent. Dr. Cass's review shines a spotlight on the need to develop holistic care plans for vulnerable children who are being transferred to adult services to clear the children's clinics' waiting list without question, hampering medical and scientific progress in the area. The NHS must establish fundamentally different gender identity services, free from culture wars, as children and young people seeking to manage gender-related distress have the right to be treated with compassion.
• Narrative B, as provided by Huffington Post. Though the review could be termed a watershed moment for the NHS's gender identity services, it risks stigmatizing gender-diverse children. Moreover, pausing puberty blockers, cross-sex hormone therapy, and universal access to healthcare for trans youth will adversely impact the community. Dr. Cass's review should be open to interpretation as it could be used to justify new barriers to accessing mental and physical healthcare transgender people need and deserve.
• Nerd narrative, as provided by ABC News. There's a 50% chance that will Russia repeal or amend its laws that prohibit gender-affirming health care by September 2044, according to the Metaculus prediction community.

Predictions