Sex reassignment in minors ‘ethical scandal’, says report

FRENCH senators want to ban gender transition treatments for under-18s, after a report described sex reassignment in minors as potentially “one of the greatest ethical scandals in the history of medicine”.

The report, commissioned by the opposition centre-Right Les Republicains (LR) party, documents various practices by health professionals, which it claims are indoctrinated by a “trans-affirmative” ideology under the sway of experienced trans-activist associations. The report, which cites a “tense scientific and medical debate”, accuses such associations of encouraging gender transition in minors via intense propaganda campaigns on social media.

Jacqueline Eustache-Brinio, an LR senator who led the working group behind the report, concluded that “fashion plays a big role” in the rise of gender reassignment treatments. If this factor and the risks involved are underestimated, she added, “the sexual transition of young people will be considered as one of the greatest ethical scandals in the history of medicine”.

LR senators now want to table a Bill by the summer that would effectively ban the medical transition of minors in France by halting the prescription or administration of puberty blockers and hormones to people under the age of 18. Sex reassignment surgery could also be banned for minors.

Maud Vasselle, a mother whose daughter underwent gender transition treatment, told Le Figaro: “A child is not old enough to ask to have her body altered. My daughter just needed the certificate of a psychiatrist, which she obtained after a one-hour consultation. But doctors don’t explain the consequences of puberty blockers,” she added.

“My daughter didn’t realise that life wasn’t going to be so easy with all these treatments .”

Clément Moreau, the clinical psychologist and coordinator of the mental health unit of the association Espace Santé Trans (Trans Health Space), criticised the report: “Using blockers if necessary or hormones before coming of age reduces the rate of suicidality, depression and anxiety.” LR senators want to accelerate the ban of puberty blockers following the report.