Media Releases

Media Release: Rights Aotearoa Backs Urgent Legal Action To Stop Blocker Ban

Photo by Tingey Injury Law Firm / Unsplash

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Monday 1 December 2025

RIGHTS AOTEAROA BACKS URGENT LEGAL ACTION TO STOP BLOCKER BAN

Rights Aotearoa unequivocally supports the urgent legal action filed today by the Professional Association for Transgender Health Aotearoa (PATHA) to halt the Government’s discriminatory ban on puberty blockers. This filing for a judicial review and associated injunction is a necessary line of defence for transgender youth against a Government that has chosen to override clinical expertise with political ideology. We stand with the medical community in asserting that healthcare decisions belong in consultation rooms, not in Cabinet meetings driven by a "war on woke."

We agree with PATHA that these regulations are not only unethical but illegal. By ignoring the advice of medical specialists and creating a two-tier health system where cisgender children retain access to medication denied to trans youth, the Government is in clear breach of the Bill of Rights. Rights Aotearoa commends PATHA for taking this decisive stand; when the State weaponises healthcare against a minority to score political points, the courts must intervene to protect the vulnerable.

PATHA's original media release can be found here: https://patha.nz/news

ENDS

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

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