More than a hundred children as young as ten years old will be subjected to clinical trials of transgender drugs in Britain, despite the government blocking puberty blockers for general use.
Last year, a review from leading paediatrician Dr Hilary Cass found that transgender medical practices were “built on shaky foundations” and that Britain’s socialised healthcare system should not hand out puberty-blocking drugs to minors over safety concerns. The left-wing Labour Party government agreed and barred the practice for children.
However, the Cass review also left the door open for further medical trials to be conducted, paving the way for an upcoming study of 250 supposedly transgender children between 10 and 15 years old after receiving regulatory approval this week, The Times of London reported.
According to the paper, over half of the children will be provided with drugs for up to two years to suppress their natural development, like periods, breasts or facial hair. Their brain development and other indicators of health will then be monitored and compared with those of the children who did not take the drugs in their early adulthood.
The King’s College team claimed that the study was necessary to provide allegedly trans children with the “information that they need to make informed choices about their care”.
The study’s leader, Professor Emily Simonoff, noted that parents will need to provide consent throughout the study.
However, she acknowledged that the study could have long-term negative impacts on the children involved, including potential impacts to their fertility, mental development, and bone structure.
Yet, Professor Simonoff said that trails would test to see if they would be offset by reduced anxiety and depression with a “better alignment between body features and long-term identity”.
The study has sparked swift backlash, including from the political and medical communities.
Biology in Medicine doctors campaign group, Dr Alice Hodkinson, said: “There is already clear evidence of harm, and there is no ethical justification for subjecting another 200 children to puberty blockers.
“We urge NHS England to stop placing children in harm’s way and to prioritise rigorous analysis of the cohort of 2,000 children who have already received puberty blockers.”
Former Prime Minister Liz Truss said, “Just when you think transgender ideology has been vanquished, it rears its head again. Doing this to children is evil. It should be a crime.”
In a letter to Health Secretary Wes Streeting, independent MP Rupert Lowe called on the government to step in and halt the trial, expressing “profound concern, and frankly disgust, regarding the decision to authorise a new clinical trial administering puberty-blocking drugs to children”.
“This is a deeply unethical experiment, one which must be immediately halted. We cannot further expose children to such harmful medical interventions. This trial is not safe, and it is certainly not ethically defensible. No child is born in the wrong body. To suggest otherwise, in any way, is a wildly irresponsible abuse of power and authority. Normalising this attitude, at all, is immoral and dangerous.”
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