by Josephine Bartosch, UnHerd
Has the ban on puberty blockers really driven a surge in child suicides, as the Good Law Project (GLP) claims? Or are campaigners drawing sweeping conclusions from fragile data about a small and deeply vulnerable group? Those hoping for a headline answer will be disappointed. The facts are complex, and demand a careful reading.
Suicide, especially among children, is one of the most serious subjects any journalist can cover. Reporting guidelines warn against attributing deaths to a single “trigger”, and caution that young people are particularly susceptible to suicide contagion and as such, emotive or sensational framing should be avoided.
Perhaps the outlet Pink News forgot this when, earlier this week, it repeated the GLP claim under the headline: “Trans youth suicides surged when the NHS banned puberty blockers, tragic report suggests.”