High Court to rule whether emergency puberty blocker ban was lawful

The High Court is set to rule on whether an emergency ban on puberty blockers made by the Tory government was lawful.

Campaign group TransActual, and a young person who cannot be named, made a bid to challenge the decision of now-shadow health secretary Victoria Atkins to impose a so-called “banning order” on puberty blockers, which suppress the natural production of sex hormones to delay puberty.

At a hearing on July 12, the High Court in London heard the secondary legislation prevents the prescription of the medication from European or private prescribers and restricts NHS provision to within clinical trials.

The Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) and the Department of Health in Northern Ireland are defending the claim and have said the case should be dismissed.

Mrs Justice Lang is due to give her decision on the claim in writing on Monday.

Although the emergency ban was implemented by the previous Conservative government, the court heard that it might be made permanent by new Labour ministers.

Health Secretary Wes Streeting later said he was “treading cautiously” in his decision amid “lots of fear and anxiety”.

The MP for Ilford North has faced criticism from within his own party for the decision, with members of Labour’s LGBT wing writing to him earlier this month with “concerns” about an indefinite ban.

Mrs Justice Lang’s decision on the legal action will be handed down at 11am on Monday.