The Legal Rights and Wrongs of Puberty Blocking in England Date:11 APR 2021
Hannah Hirst, PhD student, University of Liverpool, School of Law and Social Justice
Keywords: Puberty blockers – children’s rights – access to health – UNCRC – consent – Gillick – parental responsibility - best interests – gender
By analysing the recent ruling reached by the High Court in
R (on the application of) Quincy Bell and A v Tavistock and Portman NHS Trust and others and consequent amendments to NHS England’s Service Specification regulating pubertal blocking, this article considers the impact of the decision on children’s rights in three areas: health, capacity, and involvement. It argues that the court’s narrow approach to defining health led the judges to focus on the biological outcomes of puberty blockers and overlook the psychosocial consequences of withholding or delaying treatment. In the context of capacity, the Bell judgement impacts the rights of gender d