In these hard times, families unexpectedly crash-landing on to universal credit are discovering the full brutality of Britain’s benefits system, the meanest among comparable European countries. Stripping a third child of any support smacks of China’s former one-child policy, which forced abortions on women pregnant with a second.
The British Pregnancy Advisory Service survey shows that more than half the women likely to be affected by the two-child limit who have had an abortion during the pandemic said the rule – introduced in April 2017 – was important in their decision to terminate. Fear for the household’s precarious finances, and knowing a third child would be shorn of so much once provided by the state, propelled them into the decision to abort.
Category: Global
A landmark victory against hormone blockers for children | The Spectator Australia
Briton Keira Bell has won her legal case against the NHS’s only gender identity development service (GIDS) for under-18s, after the High Court found that children are unlikely to be able to give informed consent for taking puberty-blocking drugs.
The crux of Keira’s case was that she could not have possibly given informed consent to take the blockers, stating that,
‘I made a brash decision as a teenager, (as a lot of teenagers do) trying to find confidence and happiness, except now the rest of my life will be negatively affected.’
Today, three High Court judges agreed. Their judgment, deferred from October, concludes that it is ‘highly unlikely’ that a child aged 13 or under would ever be able to give informed consent to being treated with puberty blockers. It also states that it is ‘very doubtful’ that children aged 14 and 15 can understand the long-term risks and consequences of treatment in such a way as to have sufficient understanding to give consent.
In September this year the NHS launched an independent review of GIDS, which is part of the Tavistock and Portman Trust, and recently the Care Quality Commission carried out a separate inspection.
It was also revealed that 35 psychologists had resigned from GIDS in the space of three years, with many concerned about the service ‘over-diagnosing’ young people with gender dysphoria.
Source: A landmark victory against hormone blockers for children | The Spectator Australia
Puberty blockers: Under-16s ‘unlikely’ to be able to give informed consent – BBC News
Children under 16 with gender dysphoria are unlikely to be able to give informed consent to undergo treatment with puberty-blocking drugs, three High Court judges have ruled.
The case was brought against Tavistock and Portman NHS Trust, which said it was “disappointed” but immediately suspended such referrals for under-16s.
The NHS said it “welcomed the clarity” the ruling would bring.
At a High Court hearing in October, lawyers representing the claimants said there was “a very high likelihood” children who start taking hormone blockers will later begin taking cross-sex hormones, which they say cause “irreversible changes”.
Source: Puberty blockers: Under-16s ‘unlikely’ to be able to give informed consent – BBC News
Landmark Case in the Fight to Protect Nonconforming Youth – The Velvet Chronicle
On October 7, 2020, Keira Bell went to court in London to fight against a system that pathologizes and medicalizes youth nonconformity. At 16 years old, after just three appointments, doctors began the process of transitioning Bell, medically, to ‘change’ her sex. Tomorrow morning, the judgement on her case comes in.
Bell is a former patient of Tavistock’s Gender Identity Development Service for under 18’s, where she was given puberty blockers at age 16, and prescribed testosterone at age 17. She was later sent to the adult Gender Identity Clinic in London, and by the age of 20, surgeons had performed a double mastectomy on her.
Bell raised £50,491 (over $67k) to bring this case to court. She isn’t looking for compensation. She’s looking to change the policies that currently work against kids like her.
Young people do not reach full cognitive brain development till around the age of 25, a fact that the medical field collectively decided to either forget, or ignore, when it came to medicalizing and performing surgeries on kids like Bell. In the US, toddlers, as young as 1, are labeled “transgender,” children, as young as 8, are medicalized, and double mastectomies are performed on kids as young as 13.
Statistically, the majority of kids like Bell would grow out of ‘gender dysphoria,’ if allowed to grow up, without interference.
Medical malpractice has been committed on a global scale, because no one will challenge the foundational lie, that this is a biological condition.
This shift from a psychological condition to a biological one happened when activists and patients got involved with WPATH and APA, changing definitions from Gender Identity Disorder to Gender Dysphoria.
If the court rules in Bell’s favor, young people will have a better chance of growing up before life-altering decisions are made. This case doesn’t just represent Bell, it represents thousands of young people who’ve come forward with similar stories, despite a powerful campaign to silence them.
Source: Landmark Case in the Fight to Protect Nonconforming Youth – The Velvet Chronicle
Barbara Kay: The problems with Bill C-6 and the gender affirmation model | National Post
This bill seeks to criminalize “conversion therapy,” a term previously applied only to the practice — almost universally condemned as unethical — of treating all sexual orientations but heterosexuality as deviations in need of correction. But in its misleading bait-and-switch conflation of sexual orientation with gender dysphoria, conversion therapy has been extended to mean any treatment that slows down or dissuades a youth from early medical gender transition. In reality, sexual orientation and gender dysphoria are separate phenomena. A single therapeutic proscription covering both should have aroused suspicion in more than the few attentive House members who voted against it (and kudos to them for doing their homework).
Source: Barbara Kay: The problems with Bill C-6 and the gender affirmation model | National Post
Evidence for the purple line… – Dr Sara Wickham
Firstly, and especially for anyone who isn’t already aware of this, the purple line is a line of temporary skin discoloration that can be seen in the anal cleft of some women as they progress in labour. In early labour, the line is short, and it gets longer as labour progresses. Some midwives are good at telling how far along a woman is in her labour by looking at the purple line.
The purple line was first discussed in the literature (to my knowledge, but please see below) in a letter written to The Lancet by Byrne and Edmonds (1990), who described it as a ‘clinical sign which will indicate the progress of the first stage of labour without vaginal examination’. Interestingly, they attributed a Sister H Lake as having first observed the purple line. I can only assume that Sister Lake was a midwife, and have previously made some efforts to track her down, but without success.
In 2010, Shepherd et al published the results of their research study into the purple line. In an article that is freely available, they observed the progress of 144 women in labour and saw evidence of the purple line in 76% of the women. These researchers hadn’t set out to find out more about the actual physiology of the purple line, but their results showed a medium positive correlation between the length of the purple line, the dilation of the woman’s cervix and the station of the baby’s head. One of their findings that I find the most fascinating is that the line was far more likely to appear when a woman was in spontaneous labour.
Having seen the purple line many times myself, though, I find it hard to believe that Sister Lake was the first birth attendant to notice it. I often wonder whether, one day, someone doing some historical midwifery research will come across an even earlier reference to this in old texts. Or perhaps in other eras it was so well known and accepted that there would have been no need to even mention it…
Controversial ‘virginity tests’ sold by UK clinics – BBC News
Women are being offered controversial “virginity tests” at British medical clinics, an investigation by BBC Newsbeat and 100 Women has found.
The intrusive tests are considered a violation of human rights by the World Health Organization (WHO) and United Nations, which want to see them banned.
Critics say they are unscientific, cannot prove whether someone is a virgin and can be a form of abuse.
The BBC identified 21 clinics and managed to make inquiries with 16 of them, seven confirmed they offer “virginity testing” and several others would not clarify their position.
All said they would carry out hymen-repair surgery, which costs in the region of £1,500 to £3,000. Data from NHS England shows 69 hymen-repair procedures have been carried out in the past five years.
Source: Controversial ‘virginity tests’ sold by UK clinics – BBC News
Breastfeeding charity sparks outrage by allowing men who identify as female to attend meetings | Daily Mail Online
A breastfeeding charity has sparked outrage by allowing men who identify as female to attend meetings for mothers struggling to feed their babies.
The British branch of the La Leche League (LLLGB) is offering to provide breastfeeding support to transgender women, who were born male.
A statement on the charity’s website says: ‘Trans men, trans women and non-binary individuals may choose to breastfeed or chestfeed their babies.
‘You do not need to have given birth to breastfeed or chestfeed, as we can also see in the experiences of those nursing adopted babies.’
Chestfeeding is a term used to avoid causing offence to women who have transitioned to become men and feel uncomfortable using the word ‘breast.’
But this week a former La Leche League leader told how ‘alarmed’ she was at the prospect of trans women joining meetings with other mothers in a post on Mumsnet.
She wrote: ‘I was a La Leche League leader for many years and am very upset to see how the organisation has lost its focus on the mother and baby.
‘LLLGB should not be promoting the idea that males can induce lactation to feed a baby.
‘There is no evidence to say this is safe, only an anecdotal example of a case where a doctor in the US enabled this to happen using off label drugs,’ she added.
The culture war over the Istanbul Convention in East Central Europe – Democracy | IPS Journal
Against the background of corona pandemic’s catastrophic effects on health and the economy, the right-wing political forces in East-Central Europe are apparently falling back on their old, familiar strategy of turning frustration and insecurities into a culture war
At the heart of the culture war in the Visegrád Group, however, is the Istanbul Convention signed by the EU in June 2017, known formally as the ‘Council of Europe Convention on Preventing and Combating Violence against Women and Domestic Violence’. In all four countries it came under fire by the government during the pandemic. Instead, an alternative ‘Family Rights Convention’ has even been initiated in its place, which, in contrast to the Istanbul Convention, contains chapters on abortion and same-sex marriages.
Source: The culture war over the Istanbul Convention in East Central Europe – Democracy | IPS Journal
Women’s rights in the far left — are feminists actually neo-fascists? | by Ziggy M | Medium
[R]epeating the delusions that either; humans can change sex, or your gendered soul is the defining characteristic of what makes you male or female, is unhelpful for women, for those who suffer acute gender dysphoria, and all those who do not fit into gender stereotypes.
Many older transsexuals who have lived through transition are acutely aware of the compromises their life entails, and recommend extreme caution in taking that path. The decision to become a life-long medical patient, to accept compromised fertility and sexual function, to risk skeletal problems and cancer must not be taken lightly.
There are accounts of profound disappointment after the initial high of transition when the person realises it is a journey to a destination they will never reach. This may be the reason that depression and suicidal ideation has not been shown to decrease after transition (contrary to Mermaids propaganda). It is also well documented that young people seeking transition have a higher likelihood of being autistic, having mental health problems, or a history of abuse or trauma. It is irresponsible and unkind to sell them a myth rather than reach compassionate solutions based on honesty.
Telling a child suffering from body dysphoria that they are indeed born in the wrong body is not kind.
Many transsexuals, people with differences of sexual development (DSD), detransitioners, and those who identify as trans gender are themselves silenced and bullied for questioning the new orthodoxy and are being dragged into a fight they do not want. There is also a growing lesbian and gay movement who are once again having to assert the right to be same sex attracted. The fact that Stonewall has expressed no concern over the Newsnight report suggesting GIDS might be medicating gay children due to homophobia shows their lack of concern for gay rights. It is not ‘LGBT people’ the trans lobby is supporting, but a very specific dogma.
Peddling the myth that trans women are women, and that humans can change sex is not true, not useful and not kind.
Source: Women’s rights in the far left — are feminists actually neo-fascists? | by Ziggy M | Medium