The military BMA has thrown the children under the bus

For many people, the Cass Review into gender identity services in England was a relief. Finally, an evidence-based, expert panel led by a famous pediatrician has confirmed what we all thought, using research instead of Twitter spats: puberty blockers are not safe to give children.

One of the few things the Conservative Party did well in the last round of government was to block the blockers, set up by the health secretary at the time, Victoria Atkins. The current government seems to agree. After a High Court challenge against the ban, which was upheld, Health Secretary Wes Streeting welcomed the decision, arguing that it was “evidence-led” a key element of any child health care system.

However, in its eternal wisdom, the British Medical Association (BMA) has decided that the ban on puberty blockers should be lifted. Why? Because it didn’t like the Cass Review.

In a statement published on Wednesday, the doctors’ association argued that there are “weaknesses in the methods used in the Assessment and problems arising from the implementation of some recommendations”.

This is a common argument leveled at Dr. Hilary Cass and her team that the data is in fact “selected”. But this misses an important argument for the Cass Review’s criticism of medical procedures for gender dysphoric children – that there is insufficient evidence to justify such medical procedures.

If doctors don’t worry about prescribing drugs that haven’t been properly tested and evaluated, what chance do the rest of us have? Isn’t it the cornerstone of the Hippocratic Oath, do no harm? If the BMA argued that more research should be done to prevent young people, most of us would agree. With such a sharp increase in the number of children – especially girls – seeking medical intervention due to the feeling that they are “the wrong body”, well-researched and reliable medical knowledge is essential to ensure that no mistakes were made.

But that is not what the BMA is claiming. In fact, it wants to continue normal, allowing teenagers to use pop pills to prevent their bodies from continuing in normal, healthy ways into adulthood. It argues that trans children are silenced by this ban. “It’s time we listened to this group of important, valuable and unfortunately often victimized people,” BMA Council chairman Professor Philip Banfield says. This statement is in direct contrast to the views of many whistleblowers from Tavistock and other clinics, who argued that doctors were being bullied into “confirming” the needs of children, rather than using the power of them to keep them safe.

The BMA press release also links to a report published by the Integrity Project at Yale. This commentary in the Cass Review reads like a political pamphlet, even though it points the finger at Cass for the same crime. “Our concern with the Cass Review shows the political conditions for transgender health care, especially for young people,” it says, “if politics continues to interfere with health care.” health, medical services and research in this field may not recover.” This is the classic copy and paste response from trans supporters – question our approach and you’re putting us at risk. Such aversion to scrutiny is troubling in the world of politics, and especially dangerous in the medical field.

Health care should not be politicized – yet, in many cases, it is. From abortion care to access to contraception, people living with HIV are not the first to have issues raised about their right to access the pill. The BMA is currently involved in industrial action, having recently announced a “work-to-manage” for GPs protesting a new contract with measly pay rises. This is what many people consider to be the issue of the medical association – regardless of whether they agree with their recent actions – not trying to be liked by activists by playing politics.

The perverted views of trans ideology – which upholds the myth that sexuality is not real and all your problems can be solved by cutting your body – have been embraced by many people working in the media. of health. Prohibition of puberty blockers was informed by science and experts. But there is a broader political battle to be won by those of us who don’t wear white coats – which is the truth, and the safety of our children.