Английская Википедия:Health and Equality Acts (Amendment) Bill

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Шаблон:Short descriptionШаблон:Infobox UK legislationThe Health and Equality Acts (Amendment) Bill is a proposed Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom.

The Bill is a Private Members' Bill introduced by the former Prime Minister, Liz Truss.

The Bill would amend the Equality Act 2010 to define sex in law, ban children from accessing puberty blockers, creates offences for medical practitioners if they prescribe puberty blockers to children, and bans recognition of social transitioning for children under the age of 18.

History and parliamentary passage

There has been significant criticism of the Equality Act 2010 for not defining "sex" or "gender" which "sex" is a protected characteristic under section 11 of the EA 2010.

This has led to a series of petitions on this issue, a couple of which gathered hundreds of thousands of signatures. One calling for "sex" to be changed to mean biological sex gained over 100,000 signatures and was debated in Parliament. These petitions did not materialise in any change of the law, but the issue remained hotly contested.

The Equality and Human Rights Commission has stated that legally defining sex could bring clarity in a number of areas. Indeed, the EHRC recommended the Government take further action to define sex in the EA 2010. A deluge of organisations have supported clarifying the defintion of sex in the Equality Act 2010, including the charity Sex Matters, which stated it is essential to do so to protect the rights of biological women.

The Bill was presented by Truss in December 2023 as a ballot bill. The Bill was seen to be a power move against the Labour Party as a potential weak spot.

Truss published data from a poll which stated that there was over 90% of support for her Bill.

The Bill was criticised as being an attack on transgender rights.

The Bill was due to receive its Second Reading in the House of Commons on 15 March 2024, but was not read in time for the moment of interruption. Many people, including Truss and Kemi Badenoch, Secretary of State for Business and Trade, criticised Labour MPs for filibustering the Bill so that it was not debated on 15 March 2024 and accused them preventing a debate to protect children and single sex spaces.

A few days before, the NHS stated that it will not prescribe puberty blockers to children, which was said to be welcomed by the Government and other prominent politicians. The Scottish Government similarly entered talks to prevent puberty blockers being prescribed to children.

The second reading of the Bill has been adjourned to 22 March 2024. The Government, particularly Badenoch and the current Prime Minister, Rishi Sunak, supports the Bill and are said that they will allow it to proceed through Parliament.