Sweden s flag is seen near the Stockholm Cathedral in Gamla Stan or the Old Town district of Stockholm, Sweden, June 9, 2010. | Reuters/Bob Strong
Doctors at a prominent Swedish hospital that treats children suffering from gender dysphoria announced they will no longer prescribe cross-sex hormones or drugs that suppress puberty.Â
The Karolinska University Hospital said that as of April 1, puberty blockers would no longer be given to youth younger than 16. In the hospitalâs statement, first released in March outlining the policy change and later reported to English-speaking media Wednesday, the medical institution noted that the experimental measures have come under increased scrutiny in recent months amid rising numbers of youth patients being treated.
Transgender Teens: Is the Tide Starting to Turn? medscape.com - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from medscape.com Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
Published April 22, 2021
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The committee into
Mark Latham‘s anti-trans education bill shouldn’t exist in the first place. But it does, and one side effect is that it’s being used to launder the fringe, transphobic ideas of discredited cranks into the mainstream with very little critical judgement.
The bill in question would prohibit NSW schools from teaching that trans and non-binary people exist, and prohibit them from supporting trans and non-binary students. However the parliamentary debate is already having serious ramifications, regardless of whether Mark Latham’s bill is enacted or not.
Depending on whom you ask, the Arkansas state legislature is filled with either devils, dupes, or diligent lawmakers who did their duty to protect minors despite enormous pressure to capitulate. After all, they reversed their own Republican governor’s veto of a bill that would prohibit persons under age eighteen from receiving certain surgeries and hormone treatments for diagnosed gender dysphoria.
Last Tuesday, the Arkansas House of Representatives voted 72-25 to overturn Governor Asa Hutchinson’s veto, while the Senate did so by a vote of 25-8. While these margins are hardly narrow, the way forward will be widely contested by media mischaracterisations, deep-pocketed medical organisations’ proclamations, and the growing reach of corporate threats.
Mona Charen
Seventeen legislatures are considering laws that would dictate how medical personnel can treat transgender youth the latest flashpoint in the culture war. Arkansas Governor Asa Hutchinson surprised observers this week when he vetoed one of those bills. It would have outlawed puberty blockers, cross-sex hormone treatment and gender-affirming surgeries for children.
The Arkansas legislature and 16 others are attempting to big-foot a complex issue. With rare exceptions (such as limitations on assisted suicide and abortion), legislatures are not the best place for decision-making about medical issues. But in our hyper-hysterical culture, it s becoming less and less possible to engage in these debates where they belong in the realm of science and journalism.