British Medical Association Calls for Pause on Cass Review Implementation

The British Medical Association (BMA) has raised concerns about the methodologies and recommendations of the controversial Cass Review on gender identity services for children and young people in the UK.

In a statement, the BMA announced it would conduct an evaluation of the review, which was published earlier this year and has been used to justify ending trans-affirming health services for young people.

This move follows the BMA Council’s passage of a motion critiquing the methodologies used in the review and the issues arising from the implementation of some recommendations.

The BMA, representing almost 200,000 doctors in the UK, called for the implementation of the Cass Review’s recommendations to be paused while an evaluation team conducts its work, expected to be completed towards the end of this year.

“In the meantime, the BMA believes transgender and gender-diverse patients should continue to receive specialist healthcare, regardless of their age,” said the organisation.

The BMA was also critical of proposals to ban the prescribing of puberty blockers to children and young people with gender dysphoria. Instead, it called for more research to help form a solid evidence base for children’s care, not just in gender dysphoria but more widely in paediatric treatments.

“The Association believes clinicians, patients, and families should make decisions about treatment based on the best available evidence, not politicians,” said the BMA.

One of the criticisms of the Cass Review was its failure to consult with specialists in the field of trans care or with transgender people themselves, something the BMA’s Chair of Council, Professor Philip Banfield, alluded to.

He stated that the evaluation team “will work with patients to ensure the evaluation invokes the old adage in medicine of ‘no decision about me without me’.” He added, “It is time that we truly listen to this group of important, valued, and unfortunately often victimised people and, together, build a system in which they are finally provided with the care they deserve.”

The Cass Review, released in April to immense controversy, was commissioned by England’s NHS (National Health Service) in 2020. It sought to review gender services for children and young people, including those with gender dysphoria and those identifying as transgender.

The report concluded that trans-affirming treatment for young people, including the use of puberty blockers, was untested and that there was not enough evidence to assess the physical risks and benefits.

The study has been weaponised by critics of trans-affirming health care for young people as proof that this is a dangerous and extreme intervention. Harry Potter author JK Rowling has been a vocal proponent of the Cass Review on social media, and the report has already been cited in US legal battles over transgender rights.

In May, the World Professional Association for Transgender Health (WPATH) and the US Professional Association for Transgender Health (USPATH) accused the review of “ignoring more than three decades of clinical experience in this area as well as existing evidence showing the benefits of hormonal interventions on the mental health and quality of life of gender-diverse young people.”