The High Court has overturned the Government’s ban on new puberty blocker prescriptions for children and teenagers, ruling the regulations unlawful and discriminatory.

Justice La Hood found the Government failed to meet its legal consultation obligations and that an indefinite prohibition breached the right to freedom from discrimination under the New Zealand Bill of Rights Act.

The regulations, introduced by Health Minister Simeon Brown in November 2025, prevented new patients from receiving puberty blockers for gender dysphoria or gender incongruence.

Children already receiving the medication could continue treatment, while prescriptions for other medical conditions remained available.

The Professional Association for Transgender Health Aotearoa challenged the restrictions in court, arguing the Government had acted unlawfully.

Justice La Hood found the Ministry of Health’s consultation process was inadequate because those consulted were not made aware that a complete prohibition on new prescriptions was being considered.

The Ministry also failed to consult directly with gender diverse young people who would be affected.

The judge found children experiencing gender dysphoria or gender incongruence were being treated differently from other young patients who could still access the same medication for different medical conditions.

While the Minister had legitimate grounds to consider restrictions because of concerns about the available medical evidence, Justice La Hood ruled an indefinite ban went too far.

The Court declared the regulations unlawful and invalid and ordered them to be set aside.

New Zealand First leader Winston Peters said “We will demand that this decision be immediately appealed by the Minister of Health.