The US-based Heritage Foundation’s new report entitled “Puberty Blockers, Cross-Sex Hormones, and Youth Suicide” finds that children given puberty blockers and hormones to reject their biological sex actually increased suicides..The conservative think tank’s report showed that causal conclusions between medical interventions and a reduced suicide rate are not supported by the statistics..“The claim that puberty blockers and cross-sex hormones prevent suicides is being used by the Biden administration and state policymakers to ease access to those drugs,” said Jay Greene, Heritage Foundation senior research fellow..“As it turns out, the science behind that claim is extremely weak and when the evidence is examined properly, it shows that making cross-sex treatments more widely available risks raising youth suicide rates rather than reducing them.”.The Joe Biden administration has said “early” interventions are “crucial” for transgender and nonbinary kids and teens' health, echoing the American Civil Liberties Union and LGBTQ organizations such as the Trevor Project..“It’s clear that gender-affirming care has the potential to reduce rates of depression and suicide attempts while banning this vital care and exposing young people to harmful political rhetoric can cause real harm,” said Amit Paley, CEO and executive director of The Trevor Project, a pro-transgender organization..He said it is “critical that all transgender and nonbinary youth across the country have access to medical care that is affirming, patient-centred, and evidence-based.”.Greene said that in states with easy access to puberty blockers and cross-sex hormones, it became “observable” starting in 2010 that medical interventions without parental consent increased suicide risk..Greene wrote that “rather than being protective against suicide, this pattern indicates that easier access by minors to cross-sex medical interventions without parental consent is associated with higher risk of suicide.”.The Heritage Foundation report found that starting around 2016, the suicide rates of young people between the ages of 12 to 23 increased substantially in states where minors had access to medical interventions without parental consent compared to states that do not..“By 2020, there are about 3.5 more suicides per 100,000 people ages 12 to 23 in states with easier access than in states without an access provision,” said the report..According to the report, “there is no similar spike in suicide rates among those ages 28 to 39,” at that time..Greene found that before 2010, states who allowed minors to access healthcare without their parents’ consent did not show the trend in suicide rates among young people aged 12 to 23..Medical interventions without parental consent only started to be widely used in 2010..“The timing of the increase in suicide rates” raises “serious concerns about the effects of puberty blockers and cross-sex hormones on suicide risks,” wrote Greene..The suicide rates increased “only among young people, only after puberty blockers and cross-sex hormones are introduced and used widely, and only in states where minors could access those medical interventions without parental consent.”.“The state policies that facilitate minors accessing those interventions without parental consent and finds that those policies raise suicide risks among young people.”.“To believe that easier access to puberty blockers and cross-sex hormones are not the cause of elevated suicide risk in those states, one would have to be able to imagine other medical interventions that only became widely available after 2010 and would only affect young people,” Greene wrote. .“The lack of theoretically plausible alternatives strengthens the case for concluding that cross-sex medical interventions are the cause of the observed increase in suicide among young people.”.The Heritage Foundation hopes that the report’s findings will strengthen policies for parental involvement in key decisions for their children.
