[throwaway53453]

It's not a good solution, but no. We don't allow children to have sex until they're 16, or drink until 18, for valid reason. This is the same situation.

Which is that they're not mentally developed enough to consent to those things.

[vertex-four]

There is a doctor involved. There is, for children, an incredibly long wait time, a number of sessions in order to diagnose, very likely therapy, more appointments to decide what is the correct treatment process. If everyone involved agrees they should go on puberty blockers (for example, because their body development is causing them problems in line with gender dysphoria diagnostic criteria), there’s therapy and more assessments all the way through that. And now in the UK a fucking court is involved too. In a medical decision. That is, someone who is not a doctor has complete control over someone’s medical treatment.

A child can get put on lithium and kill their emotions for years with less hassle. And no court involved. That should tell you the priorities of the people who tell you it is a good idea to prevent kids from accessing medicine that is widely agreed to be safe and effective.

It wasn’t easy for children to be put on puberty blockers before and it’s worse now.

If you can’t see how it’s fucked that all this isn’t enough, and we must make it even more impossible for doctors to do their jobs, I don’t know what to say.

[throwaway53453]

Preaching to the choir here. I already know the data you've just listed. My point still stands.

[vertex-four]

Trans children who wish to go on puberty blockers don’t consent to puberty.

But inaction is always more moral than action, even when it harms people, right? When we see that we’re about to run over 5 people, but we could instead run over 1 by pulling a lever, we shouldn’t pull the lever?

[throwaway53453]

I don't consent to being ugly, but we don't let children get plastic surgery. Poor self esteem is directly linked to mental health, just like gender dysphoria.

[vertex-four]

Plastic surgery is not comparable to puberty blockers.