The Alliance Party appears isolated among the Stormont executive parties in its criticism of Health Minister Mike Nesbitt’s move to extend the ban on puberty blockers.
First Minister Michelle O’Neill and Deputy First Minister Emma Little-Pengelly approved the ban that brings the north into line with Britain on Thursday by way of urgent procedure, without full executive approval.
The Conservative government used emergency legislation in May to introduce the ban curbing the use of the drugs for children and young people with gender dysphoria. The ban has been extended by the new Labour administration.
It will become effective in Northern Ireland from August 27, closing a loophole which some claimed could have seen the region used as route to source the puberty-suppressing hormones.
The Department of Health said Mr Nesbitt moved to impose the ban in light of the findings of paediatrician Dr Hilary Cass’s independent review.
Published in April, the review into gender identity services for under-18s in NHS England found “remarkably weak” evidence on treatments such as puberty blockers.
The department said the ban would “close potential loopholes that could be exploited by not having a UK-wide legislative approach on this matter”.
The move has been welcomed by the DUP, while Sinn Féin has said it accepts the current advice of chief medical officer Michael McBride, who was among those Mr Nesbitt consulted with.
DUP MLA Diane Dodds said her party had long advocated “the most cautious approach”.
“The move here in Northern Ireland and across the United Kingdom is part of a much wider international trend where many countries have been reviewing such provision in light of more detailed scrutiny of their {puberty blockers} safety and usage,” she said.
A Sinn Féin spokesperson said the party would monitor a British Medical Association review of Dr Cass’s report.
“To be clear, our position is that clinical and health care is best determined by doctors and clinicians - not politicians - and needs to be informed by the clinical and scientific evidence,” the spokesperson said.
The Ulster Unionists have backed its minister’s decision, leaving Alliance as the only executive party seemingly critical of Mr Nesbitt’s move.
The SDLP has yet to officially comment on the issue.
A spokesperson for Alliance said it was committed to “reforming and improving access to gender identity healthcare”.
The spokesperson said not all of the Cass Review’s recommendations were necessarily applicable in the north.
“Clinical decisions around individual care pathways should not be made by politicians in any field of medicine,” the spokesperson said.
“These decisions should always be made carefully, on the basis of the evidence available, by the clinicians responsible for providing such healthcare in line with their professional guidelines.”
The introduction of the ban in Northern Ireland has been criticised by People Before Profit and the Greens.
Alexa Moore of LGBT+ advocacy group the Rainbow Project said it was “extremely disappointing” and would “cause harm to trans young people and their families who require this care”.
“Decisions around puberty blockers, and any other care for trans youth, must be made by young people, their clinicians and their family, not by politicians,” she said.
