The World Medical Association has reaffirmed its
opposition to IAAF gender rules for classifying female athletes as ‘contrary to
medical ethics’.
In a letter to the International Association of Athletic
Federations, the WMA says ‘we stand firm against any practice requiring
physicians to use their competence and skills for any other purpose than
providing medical care in the best interest of their patients and in respect of
their dignity’.
The IAAF rules require women athletes with specific
differences in sex development to medically reduce their natural blood
testosterone.
The letter from WMA leaders is in response to last week’s
open letter from the IAAF which ruled that Olympian Caster Semenya must take
drugs to suppress her testosterone levels to compete in certain women’s races,
or she can compete with men in “any competition at any level” and “without
restriction.”
The WMA letter from WMA President Dr. Leonid Eidelman and
WMA Chair Dr. Frank Ulrich Montgomery notes the controversy surrounding the
IAAF scientific arguments, but says its opposition to the regulations is based
solely on strict ethical considerations.
They write: ‘A medical treatment (with a few legal
exceptions, which do not apply here) is only justified when there is a medical
need. The mere existence of an intersex condition, without the person
indicating suffering and expressing the desire for an adequate treatment, does
not constitute a medical indication.
‘The days when doctors or society would determine which
gender a person should have are definitely over. It is the ethical duty of
physicians to respect the dignity and integrity of people, regardless of
whether they are female, male, intersex or transgender. Medical treatment for
the sole purpose of altering the performance in sport is not permissible’.
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