Media Release: Government Bans Trans Youth While Protecting Cisgender Access to Puberty Blockers.

MEDIA RELEASE

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Wednesday 19 November 2025

RIGHTS AOTEAROA: GOVERNMENT BANS TRANS YOUTH WHILE PROTECTING CISGENDER ACCESS

Rights Aotearoa condemns the Government’s decision today to ban the prescription of puberty blockers for transgender youth as an act of unlawful discrimination and political interference in clinical medicine.

This decision, made under the guise of "precaution," is a direct violation of the New Zealand Bill of Rights Act 1990 (NZBORA).

"This is not about safety. If it were about safety, the medication would be banned for everyone. It hasn't been," says Paul Thistoll, CEO of Rights Aotearoa.

"The Government has banned this medication for transgender adolescents while explicitly allowing it to continue for cisgender children with precocious puberty. The safety profile of a drug does not change based on the identity of the child taking it. To ban it for one group while allowing it for another is textbook discrimination under Section 19 of the Bill of Rights Act."

Discrimination on Prohibited Grounds

Rights Aotearoa contends the regulations breach the Human Rights Act 1993 on multiple grounds:

• Sex and Gender Identity: The ban targets a specific subset of the population based on their gender identity, while cisgender cohorts remain unaffected.
• Disability: By restricting treatment for Gender Dysphoria—a recognised medical diagnosis—the Government is discriminating against a group based on a medical condition.
• Family Status: The state has stripped parents of transgender youth of the right to make medical decisions for their children, a right it aggressively protects for parents of cisgender children.

Political Interference Overruling Clinical Independence

"This decision overrides the expertise of New Zealand clinicians and the stated position of the Professional Association for Transgender Health Aotearoa (PATHA)," says Thistoll.

"We have seen sustained political pressure from Government ministers—including Minister Brown, ACT’s Karen Chhour, and NZ First’s Winston Peters—who have publicly campaigned against this healthcare. This decision effectively launders their political prejudice through the Ministry of Health, bypassing standard clinical decision-making."

The "2031" Delay is a De Facto Ban

"By pinning the resumption of prescribing to a UK trial result expected in 2031, the Government has effectively sacrificed a generation of trans youth. They are demanding a level of evidence for trans healthcare that they do not demand for hundreds of other treatments routinely used in paediatrics."

Demand for Immediate Reversal

Rights Aotearoa calls on the Coalition Government to immediately rescind these regulations and return clinical decision-making to where it belongs: between patients, their families, and their doctors. We urge the medical community and civil society to stand united against this unprecedented intrusion into private medical care.

"The Government cannot simply pause human rights for six years. By stripping families of their right to healthcare, the State is failing in its most basic duty of care. We demand they reverse this discriminatory policy immediately."

ENDS