NT Government Backflips And Bans Puberty Blockers For Trans Youth

NT Health Minister, Steve Edgington has announced that the Northern Territory will also ban access to puberty blockers and gender affirming care for trans youth.

The minister announced the state would be following the lead of Queensland in their decision.

However the move is in contradiction to statements made by Edgington earlier this year.

Northern Territory to ban puberty blockers for trans youth

NT Health Minister, Steve Edgington announced on Sunday that “Child safety is paramount,” when revealing news of the ban on puberty blockers for young people under 18.

“The Northern Territory Government will cease public health access to puberty blockers and gender-affirming hormones for children under the age of 18″ he stated.

“This position is consistent with approaches taken in other jurisdictions, including Queensland, New Zealand, and several European countries.”

“In other places, cases have emerged where children as young as 12 were treated outside clinical guidelines, including an absence of parental consent.”

Edgington claimed that the decision would only effect a “handful of teenagers” before claiming that access to gender affirming care for young people was based on “ideology.”

“Territory kids deserve to grow up free from these dangerous ideologically driven practices with irreversible consequences,” he continued.

“The Finocchiaro CLP Government will continue to put the safety and wellbeing of our children first.”

However the decision is at odds with his previous statements earlier this year.

In March this year when presented with a petition from the Australian Christian Lobby calling for a ban on access to gender affirming care for young people Edgington dismissed the concerns.

“NT Health provides evidence based clinical and support services and care in line with the policy and the Australian Standards of Care and Treatment Guidelines for Trans and Gender Diverse Children and Adolescents,” he said at the time in response to the petition, confirming that no changes were being considered to access to the treatments.

The decision was praised by LGBTQIA+ organisations at the time who thank the government for their “continued support and provision of lifesaving social, psychological, and medical care.” The CLP government was also criticised at the time for their plans to reverse anti-discrimination laws.

Edgington has not made it clear how long the ban will remain in place, however if the state follows the lead of Queensland it could be several years.

Queensland extends ban on gender affirming care by five years. 

On Friday the Queensland government announced it will continue its ban on gender-affirming care for new trans patients under 18 in the public system, following an independent review into evidence around puberty blockers and hormone treatments.

The announcement from Health Minister Tim Nicholls revealed that the ban will remain in place until 2031 until the results of the PATHWAYS trial in the UK are known.

“We believe that it’s in the safety and interests of children that these drugs not be made available though the public system until such time as there is better evidence available,” Nicholls said on Friday.

The decision by the Queensland Government has been criticised for putting ideology and politics ahead of the health of trans and gender diverse young people.