PATHA Files Urgent Legal Action To Stop The Ban On Puberty Blockers

Today, 1 December 2025, PATHA filed an application for an urgent injunction to prevent the incoming regulation which bans new prescriptions of GnRH agonists (commonly known as puberty blockers, or reversible pubertal suppression) to patients who have gender dysphoria or gender incongruence - i.e., people who are transgender. PATHA believes the incoming regulation is illegal and unethical, and is seeking to progress with an urgent judicial review.

“These regulations are being enacted based on politics, not on clinical evidence or best-practice decision making. We won’t let transgender children in Aotearoa be subjected to harm just to ‘win a war on woke,’” says Jennifer Shields, PATHA President. “We’re taking this to court because we know what’s right, and we believe the law is on our side.”

Dr Rona Carroll, a GP specialist in gender affirming healthcare says “GnRH agonists have been used for decades and there is no evidence to justify this extreme regulation. Only a small number of young people in Aotearoa are prescribed reversible pubertal suppression, but for those who need it the negative impacts of this regulation will be huge. Politicians are ignoring the advice of health professionals, and are not acting in the best interests of children and young people who have a right to access healthcare free from discrimination.”

Additional information:

The Professional Association for Transgender Health Aotearoa (PATHA) is an interdisciplinary professional organisation working to promote the health, wellbeing and rights of transgender people. Our members work professionally for transgender health in clinical, academic, community, legal, and other settings. Our vision is that all transgender people have full access to appropriate healthcare, and that all healthcare providers have access to information and resources which enable them to provide appropriate healthcare.

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