Trans youth in New Zealand will no longer be able to access puberty blockers under a ban which prevents new prescriptions of the medication.

The ban on new prescriptions will remain in place until 2031, coinciding with the conclusion of a UK clinical trial in which the wellbeing and development of a number of children on puberty blockers will be assessed.

As The Guardian reports, doctors in New Zealand will no longer be able to issue new prescriptions to young people with gender dysphoria from December 19. Trans youth who have already been prescribed puberty blockers will still be able to access the gender-affirming care.

Patients in New Zealand who require puberty blockers to treat early-onset puberty, endometriosis and prostate cancer will be unaffected by this ban.

New Zealand’s Health Minsiter Simeon Brown said the decision to ban puberty blockers for trans youth was based on “high quality evidence”. However, the Professional Association for Transgender Health Aotearoa (PATHA) has said the ban is “ideologically driven” and will have a “devastating impact on the lives and wellbeing of our transgender and gender diverse young people”.

The group’s vice-president Dr Elizabeth McElrea outlined the harm this ban could cause. “The ban will lead to a deterioration in mental health, increased risk of suicidality and increased dysphoria in gender diverse children and young people, and will put them at a higher risk of experiencing marginalisation and discrimination,” she said.

“The prescribing of puberty blockers is always undertaken with the utmost care and consideration. They have been prescribed safely for decades for transgender children and banning their use will lead to profound distress in this already vulnerable group,” she added.

PATHA also criticised the decision for coinciding with the UK clinical trials.

“In no other area of care would life-saving medication be withheld from a vulnerable population for six years. This will have a traumatic impact on a generation of transgender children,” Dr McElrea added.

PATHA is calling on the Ministry of Health to publish the consultation report the informed the puberty blockers ban. The group also urged Labour, the Green Party, and Te Paati Māori to commit to reversing the decision.