PATHA claims new regulations would significantly harm trans children and their whānau
The Professional Association for Transgender Health Aotearoa (PATHA) has brought to the Wellington High Court its fight against the Ministry of Health over its prohibition of new puberty blocker prescriptions for gender dysphoria and gender incongruence, reported the NZ Herald.
The group took a judicial review. It wants the High Court to issue a declaration on the unlawfulness of the ministry’s regulations and to halt the enforcement of these regulations on the grounds that the puberty blocker ban would cause “immense harm, both directly and indirectly, to transgender children and their whānau”, per a statement published by the Herald.
PATHA claimed in court documents that the new regulations made New Zealand more restrictive than countries like the UK, Sweden, Norway and Finland.
“This is a political decision – the politics of culture wars, not a clinical decision. And it is shocking in its irresponsibility. No drug in New Zealand has ever had this level of Ministerial or political attention. No approved medicine in New Zealand has ever been subject to a ban of this kind”, said Victoria Casey KC, PATHA’s legal representative, in a statement published by the Herald.
Health minister Simeon Brown first announced the puberty blocker ban in November 2025. He said the reform would enhance protections and ensure the clinical soundness of treatments, given the limited high-quality evidence for the effectiveness of puberty blockers in gender dysphoria or incongruence treatments.
Casey pointed out that the use of puberty blockers had not led to clinical issues like bone density problems in over four decades. She added that they had been used in gender dysphoria and gender incongruence treatment for 15 years.
She told the court that the Ministry of Health’s 2024 evidence review on puberty blockers had resulted in a recommendation for a careful approach, and there was no proof that prescriptions had contravened this suggestion. Nonetheless, the ministry had called for the prohibition on the grounds that “we don’t know what we don’t know, we can’t say for sure”, Casey said in a statement published by the Herald.
PATHA also said the government had not consulted with the group on the regulations, even though the government said it had launched a public consultation on the need for extra safety measures in puberty blocker use by youth with gender-related health concerns. The ministry presented four policy options to the minister in July 2025. The options then went before a Cabinet committee in September 2025.
The committee decided to “regulate to prohibit puberty blockers prescribing to treat gender incongruence or dysphoria in new patients, while making youth gender services more available”, per a statement published by the Herald. After the minister signed the regulations greenlighting the ban, it was enforced in December 2025.
However, the ministry has been prevented from implementing the regulations until the judicial review has concluded.
In submissions, Brown argued that New Zealand was not the sole country to question the lack of evidence backing the benefits or risks of puberty suppression in youth. He pointed out that the drafting of regulations was among the recommendations made in the 2024 review.
Justice Dale La Hood is presiding over the three-day hearing. Brian Dickey KC is acting for the health minister.
