De Gezondheidsraad en het reguleringsklimaat rond puberteitsremming bij minderjarigen

The prescription of puberty blockers to minors with gender dysphoria, as laid down in the Dutch Protocol, has increasingly become the subject of debate. Countries such as the United Kingdom and Sweden have already restricted this practice. Against this background, the House of Representatives has requested the Health Council to issue an advisory opinion on the legal and medical-scientific foundations of the current policy. That advice is crucial: it will not only guide the revision of the Dutch Protocol, but also determine how the Netherlands approaches an intervention that profoundly affects the development of minors. This article examines whether the advisory process of the Health Council meets the requirements of independence and due care. In doing so, it addresses the composition of the committee, the risks of conflicts of interest, and the broader regulatory climate in which this assessment takes place. It concludes that, given the societal and scientific controversy surrounding puberty suppression in minors, the Health Council must adhere to particularly high standards of transparency, methodological rigor, and institutional independence. Only a visibly balanced and critically composed advisory process can provide the level of legitimacy required for policy decisions in such a sensitive and far-reaching domain.