Bishop Paul Mason, Lead Bishop for Healthcare for the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of England and Wales, has issued a statement expressing concern about a proposed clinical trial of puberty blockers involving children, saying that “vulnerable children should not be part of an experiment of the kind that will soon be starting at King’s College.”
Bishop Mason urges a path of supportive care for children experiencing gender dysphoria, rather than blocking the natural process of puberty, and warns of the ethical implications of involving children in such a trial.
He said:
“It is important that medical science progresses in the hope of providing better care to people affected by serious conditions. However, strong ethical boundaries must govern all experimentation and medical treatment. In effect, the children of today will be used instrumentally in the hope that the results of the study might benefit other children in the future.”
Bishop Mason highlights the pastoral support which priests, deacons and lay Catholics already provide on a daily basis to vulnerable children experiencing gender dysphoria who, he says, deserve “protection, loving care and appropriate medical support”.
“I would like to add my concerns to those of many others who have spoken out about the proposed clinical trial at King’s College London, which is expected to involve prescribing puberty blockers to children as young as 11 – or, possibly, even younger.
“I recognise the profound difficulties faced by young people and their families as a result of conditions such as gender dysphoria. However, we should offer support to these children rather than following a path where the natural process of puberty is blocked. Puberty blockers are currently banned for use in treating gender incongruence or dysphoria in children, following the Cass Review (Independent Review of Gender Identity Services for Children and Young People), which found ‘insufficient evidence to support the safety or clinical effectiveness of puberty blockers for adolescents.’ This planned clinical experiment exposes children to the unknown and potentially harmful consequences of puberty blockers when used to treat gender dysphoria.
“It is important that medical science progresses in the hope of providing better care to people affected by serious conditions. However, strong ethical boundaries must govern all experimentation and medical treatment. In effect, the children of today will be used instrumentally in the hope that the results of the study might benefit other children in the future.
“My concerns are shared by charities supporting children with gender dysphoria and by many medical professionals, including former members of the Tavistock Clinic, who have warned that we still lack sufficient knowledge of long-term outcomes to justify exposing more children to these drugs. Kira Bell, who has been left permanently damaged due to being given puberty blockers as a teenager, also warned about the harm the study will cause to children.
“Our priests, deacons and lay Catholics in churches and schools provide support every day to children who experience gender dysphoria, and their families. Such pastoral support and suitable professional counselling are the appropriate ways to assist children in such situations. They are particularly vulnerable and deserve protection, loving care and appropriate medical support. Vulnerable children should not be part of an experiment of the kind that will soon be starting at King’s College. I therefore urge the Government or the university’s research ethics committee to halt this trial.”
