Scot Govt urged to adopt Cass recommendations ‘to counter toxic ideology’

The findings of the landmark Cass Report should be heeded if vulnerable children are to be protected from radical transgender ideology, the Scottish Government has been told.

In a motion on Implementing the Cass Review in Scotland, Meghan Gallacher MSP called on parliamentarians to endorse the report as “a valid scientific document” and urged the SNP Government to adopt its recommendations.

Giving evidence to Holyrood’s Health Committee the day before, Dr Hilary Cass said she believed gender-confused children and young people in Scotland would benefit from a clinical approach that does not push them into puberty blockers and cross-sex hormones.

‘Anti-science ideology’

During the debate, Gallacher’s Scottish Conservative colleague Murdo Fraser hailed the work of Dr Cass as “a welcome step towards changing our perspective on the treatment of young people with gender issues”.

Drastic change is urgently needed to safeguard Scottish children from what I believe is a medical scandal.

And he argued that “children and young people in Scotland should not be left behind while children in England are given the protections that are required”.

Fraser said parliamentarians “should not be permitting the mutilation of young bodies in the name of an anti-science ideology”, and that all in Holyrood who had “allowed this abuse to occur in furtherance of a toxic ideology” should be ashamed of their conduct.

The Alba Party’s Ash Regan agreed, adding: “Drastic change is urgently needed to safeguard Scottish children from what I believe is a medical scandal.”

Amendments

In an amendment to the motion, Health Minister Jenni Minto committed the Government to a ‘careful examination’ of the report followed by an update to Parliament on the outcome “before the summer recess”.

Labour also secured an amendment, in which it called on the Scottish Government to “publish all papers relating to the multi-disciplinary clinical team work in assessing Dr Cass’s recommendations”.

The final motion was backed by all parties except the Scottish Greens, passing by 113 votes to 7, with no abstentions.

Sandyford

Last month, NHS Scotland’s gender identity clinic for children announced that it has paused the prescription of puberty-blocking and cross-sex hormones to new patients.

The Sandyford Clinic in Glasgow said the announcement “follows research from NHS England and the publication of the Cass Review while we work with the Scottish Government to engage in research with NHS England that will generate evidence of safety and long-term impact for therapies”.

It added: “We are committed to providing the best possible clinical care for young people accessing and understand the distress that gender incongruence can cause.

“While this pause is in place, we will continue to give anyone who is referred into the Young People Gender Service the psychological support that they require while we review the pathways in line with the findings.”