A controversial gender clinic is facing mass legal action from children who allege they were pressured into taking life-altering puberty blockers.
Lawyers predict that 1,000 families will join a medical negligence case against Tavistock Clinic. According to reports from the Times, the lawsuit alleges that vulnerable children were misdiagnosed and set on a harmful medical path.
These families are accusing the gender identity development service (GIDS) at the Tavistock and Portman NHS Trust of multiple failures in its duty of care.
Transgender clinic shut down by NHS
On 28th July 2022, the NHS ordered the closure of the Central Transgender clinic by spring 2023. This follows a damning interim report by Dr. Hilary Cass, a former president at the Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health.
According to the BBC, the closure includes Tavistock and Portman NHS Foundation Trust. The announcement was made after several allegations by parents and whistleblowers. The claims were on the capacity, competence and long-term negative effects of treatment on teenagers.
Furthermore, the shut-down was also triggered by a case brought against the clinic by Keira Bell who regretted the entire transition process of being treated with puberty blockers.
Young People in Substantial Danger
The formation of a special body to evaluate Tavistock Clinic activities stems on allegations that Tavistock was medicalising children without seeking parental consent.
long-term irreparable effects caused by doctor’s prescriptions on youngsters were also discovered as seen.
Consequently, Dr. Cass’s Commission stated that the Tavistock clinic is not a safe place for children. The BBC reports that the review, which will be completed in 2023, has criticised Tavistock Clinics’ treatment guidelines as putting young people at risk of poor mental health.
Dr. Hilary expressed concern that young people were ‘at substantial danger’ of poor mental health and anxiety. She added that the Tavistock clinic was ‘not a safe or viable long-term alternative for young people.’
Meanwhile, new centres based in London and in the Northwest of England should be fully open in spring 2023. Dr. Cass stated that it would run in conjunction with leading children’s hospitals, including Great Ormond Street and Alder Hey.
They would aim to support young people under the age of 18 struggling with gender identity.
Medical practitioners at the Tavistock Gender Clinic may have forgotten a part of the Hippocratic Oath which says ‘First, do no harm ’.
Doctors Warn Against Use Of Puberty Blockers
In several European countries doctors moved to ban the use of puberty lockers for children and adolescents. According to the Daily Mail, 13 adolescents who were administered puberty blockers appeared to have adverse reactions in Sweden.
In a fact sheet, the Florida Department of Health cited a lack of conclusive evidence and the potential for long-term, irreversible effects. The report warned against transitioning, puberty blockers and surgery as treatment options for children and adolescents.
Disbandment of Gender Identity Service
Reports from the BBC shows that the Tavistock Clinic’s Gender Identity Development Service (GIDS) has been administering puberty blockers to children as treatment for gender dysphoria since 2011.
Keira Bell’s experience highlighted the perils of medical transition, As the Guardian reported.
In the same vein, Judges who presided over the case said ‘For treatment of those over 16 It is normally presumed that they have the ability to give consent. However, in gender reassignment cases where puberty blockers may lead to subsequent surgical operations, the court should be sought prior to commencing the clinical treatment.’ Clinicians should have required ‘the informed consent of those children and young persons to whom such drugs are prescribed.’
In Paragraph 7 and 8, Section A of the introduction and background of the Bell-v-Tavistock judgment, it was clearly stated that the issue was whether informed consent in the legal sense can be given by children and young persons.
Though Keira’s victory was nullified by the Court of Appeal, it nevertheless unveiled the dangers of puberty blockers.
Victory for common sense
Ms. Bell’s mini-win is significant for teenagers and pre-pubescent youngsters who are not yet of legal age to make sane decisions. Moreover, the High Court’s ruling stated unequivocally that minors aged 13 and younger are extremely unlikely to be competent enough to consent to the administration of puberty blockers.
Interestingly, the judges of the case expressed concern in the instance of 16 and 17-year-olds, where there is typically a statutory presumption of capability to consent. This was a remarkable judgment and a triumph for common sense. Hence, for a youngster in puberty, becoming transgender is not only a promise of relief from their problems, but it is also a source of new problems. Why? Because humans cannot change their gender. The Lord Jesus himself said:
Mark 10:6 But from the beginning of the creation God made them male and female.
Our biology also determines whether we are male or female. It can not be changed.
Dangers Of Puberty Blockers
The Times reported a pro-trans campaigning group identified as Mermaids claiming that using puberty blockers is like hitting a pause button in the human body.
During a meeting hosted at Newman University Birmingham in December 2021, a trainer for the transgender campaign group asserted that ‘Puberty blocker medication has no effect. “It’s completely reversible.” What it does is put a pause button on the pituitary gland and freezes puberty where it is. Not growth, just puberty.’
The NHS on its website admits that the effects of hormone blockers include suppression of body features. In men, these characteristics include facial hair, deep voices, and Adam’s apples. It is the cessation of breast and menstruation in females.
Therefore, the subjection of children to gender identity development services is tantamount to child abuse and robbing children of their future. The Bible says:
Matthew 9:12 But when Jesus heard that, he said unto them, They that be whole need not a physician, but they that are sick.
Our Lord established, way before the Nuremburg Code, a fundamental principle of medicine. People take a medicine because they are sick. So what sickness do puberty blockers heal? Is growing up a sickness needing medication? Is having a different body from the one you think you ought to have a sickness demanding a pill?
Puberty Blockers Halted in Sweden
Sweden’s government ended the practice of prescribing puberty blockers and crossed-sex hormones for under 18s on 5th May 2021. The order according to Society for Gender Based Evidence Medicine(SEGM ),was due to concerns over harm and uncertain results in a major policy shift.
Ricard Nergardh, one of Sweden’s leading paediatricians, in a lawsuit relating to a young swede identified as ‘Leo’, said puberty blockers ‘chemically castrate’ children.
In April 2022, a local paper reported the case of ‘Leo’ who among others suffered consequences of puberty blockers. The treatment was administered to her at 11. Leo’s back hurts whenever she stands or walks.
Consequently, the young Swede is one of 13 transgender children of the 440 treated by the country’s Karolinska University Hospital who were found by a Swedish television crew to have suffered catastrophic injuries as a result of the puberty blockers.
Their ailments include liver damage, unexplained weight gains of up to two stone and mental health problems. In Ms. Leo’s case, skeletal damage and a failure to grow as tall as she should.
Currently, Leo suffers spinal fractures and a condition called osteopenia, which weakens the bones, making them more liable to break. It is a disease that is often seen in people aged 60 or 70 and is almost impossible to reverse.
In the mean time, Sweden’s health chiefs say the case of 24-year-old Keira Bell influenced their decision to halt the use of puberty blockers as the Mail reports here.
A New Day
The closure of the Central Transgender Clinic is a great start . However, Keira Bell will not be the last child to regret the treatment.
Parents, guardians and health practitioners should help children find themselves in God rather than try to change them. Nevertheless, both the closure decision and the class action are steps in the right direction. It a small but significant answer to prayer to the Glory of God.
Read and Pray
Genesis 1:27; Exodus 18: 21; Nehemiah 4:14; Mark 5:26-29
Thank God for Keira Bell’s Victory
Pray for children going through puberty
Pray for the fear of God in the life of Children
Pray for humility, wisdom and the fear of God for our Leaders
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If, as you say [Ms. Bell’s mini-win is significant for teenagers], I feel so sad that Keira has rejected marriage in itself, and identifies by [Ms] with those who reject the Miss/Mrs transition as meaningful. I would therefore not wish to hold her up as a model for teenagers.
Yes, good news about this horrible centre shutting down but it should never have been opened and allowed to operate in the first place. I am also not convinced that shutting it down and creating regional centres will bring any more safety but at least we have something.
Your reference to Matt 9:12 is interesting. We tend to spiritualise this comment by Jesus but you have put a really interesting dimension on it; Jesus was also making a comment about basic medical care and we should take these words more seriously. Thank you for pointing that out.
Someone on a telegram channel made an obvious point, these drugs they call ‘puberty blockers’ are basically chemical castration medications. Again this is a massive attack on young people and the family, all part of the satanic agenda.