NZ High Court Halts Enforcement of Puberty Blocker Ban

A High Court judge on Wednesday ordered the New Zealand government to halt the enforcement of a ban on puberty blockers for minors, just two days before the new restrictions were set to take effect.

Justice Wilkinson-Smith granted an application for interim relief filed by the Professional Association for Transgender Health Aotearoa (PATHA). The association sought to stop regulations scheduled to begin Dec. 19 that would prohibit new prescriptions of gonadotropin-releasing hormone analogues for gender dysphoria in children and adolescents.

In her judgment, Wilkinson-Smith declared that the Crown "should take no steps to enforce" the regulations pending a full judicial review. While the court declined to order the Minister of Health to repeal the regulations—citing constitutional boundaries—the judge ruled that preserving the status quo was necessary to prevent potential harm.

"The evidence relating to mental health outcomes suggests negative outcomes from a ban are a far more immediate concern," Wilkinson-Smith wrote. She noted that puberty blockers are reversible and that a delay in the ban's implementation posed no immediate physical risk to patients.

PATHA argued that the regulations were unlawful because Health Minister Simeon Brown effectively abdicated his statutory decision-making power to the Cabinet and ignored advice from the Ministry of Health. Court documents showed the Ministry had advised that a ban carried a high risk of adverse health outcomes and that decisions should remain with clinicians.

Minister Brown had argued a "cautious approach" was required due to low-quality evidence regarding the long-term benefits or risks of the treatment, pointing to similar restrictions recently enacted in the United Kingdom.

The court found that PATHA had been taken by surprise by the sudden announcement of the ban in November, necessitating the urgent legal intervention.

The judge ordered that the substantive judicial review regarding the legality of the regulations be heard with "all possible urgency."