Yesterday, we told you about Northern Ireland moving to permanently ban the use of puberty blockers in children as part of 'gender-affirming' care. It's the right move.
We don't know what damage puberty blockers cause in children, but we do see some of the problems: infertility, bone loss, malformation of reproductive organs. The risks aren't worth it, especially when many children outgrow their 'trans' identity.
But some people aren't happy about the ban. They point to the fact some people still use the puberty blockers for on-label treatment, like precocious puberty (when puberty starts before age 8 in girls or age 9 in boys).
Thankfully, J.K. Rowling is here to set the record straight:
For years, Sharissa Derricott, 30, had no idea why her body seemed to be failing. At 21, a surgeon replaced her deteriorated jaw joint. She’s been diagnosed with degenerative disc disease and fibromyalgia, a chronic pain condition. Her teeth are shedding enamel and cracking.
None of it made sense to her until she discovered a community of women online who describe similar symptoms and have one thing in common: All had taken a drug called Lupron.
Thousands of parents chose to inject their daughters with the drug, which was approved to shut down puberty in young girls but also is commonly used off-label to help short kids grow taller.
The drug’s pediatric version comes with few warnings about long-term side effects. It is also used in adults to fight prostate cancer or relieve uterine pain and the Food and Drug Administration has warnings on the drug’s adult labels about a variety of side effects.
More than 10,000 adverse event reports filed with the FDA reflect the experiences of women who’ve taken Lupron. The reports describe everything from brittle bones to faulty joints.
In healthcare, providers often have to do a risk v. benefit assessment. That is, do the benefits of a treatment outweigh the risks? For example: chemotherapy is very hard on the body, but the benefits of chemo -- shrinking cancer cells to prolong a patient's life -- often outweigh the risks.
There's also the concept of on-label and off-label treatment. On-label treatment is what medication is designed for (think Ozempic and diabetes control) while off-label treatment is something the medication does that isn't its primary purpose (like Ozempic used for weight loss in non-diabetics).
Lupron clearly has risks, even when used for on-label treatment of things like precocious puberty.
It's not a safe drug to give to kids who merely think they're a different gender. The risks -- as mentioned above -- do not outweigh the benefits, especially when most kids outgrow the desire to change gender.
See?
Evil is even too mild a word.
Pay very close attention to the people crying about the ban.
Good Lord.
As do most teens. Puberty sucks, but kids can get through it.
One of this writer's sons once said he wondered what it would be like to be a girl. She told him he was a boy and loved just as he is, and it never came up again.
Bones get weaker as we age anyway; elderly who fall often break hips or femurs or other bones.
These drugs make it worse.
Some of us have been warning this the entire time.
While the Left screamed we wanted kids to commit suicide and were on the 'wrong side of history.'
Leftists. That's who.
The trans movement is creating people who will rely on doctors and pharmaceuticals for the rest of their lives, and none of those meds are exactly cheap.
They sure are.
The Party of Science and all that.