Czechia’s Constitutional Court struck down a law which required the sterilisation of legally transgender people. The law was found to be contrary to citizens’ boldly integrity, with the result that Czech citizens may now change their legal sex without any surgeries. 

‘Surgery will not be a condition for legal sex change. The Constitutional Court repealed the disputed clauses [of previous legislation] with effect from mid-2025. Politicians must adopt a new regime,’ said Minister of Justice Pavel Blažek on X. 

The move comes amid Viktor Orbán’s anti-trans rhetoric in Hungary to the south. It is unclear whether Conservatives will consider this a victory because it will prevent irreversible bodily harm or a defeat because it will make legal ‘sex change’ easier – but it follows the in a trend of efforts to reduce sex change surgeries in the UK, where the Tavistock Clinic scandal has raised ethical questions over whether it was justifiable to issue puberty blockers to hundreds of children.

The Trans discussion is dividing opinions along religious and secular lines, but is also heading for a showdown in the arena of feminism with writers like Julie Birchill arguing that transgender women are a threat to female-born women while Dora Moutot, whose book ‘Transmania’ reached the top of amazon.fr after being censored by French authorities, points to the absurdity that “a child cannot decide on their sexual life, but they can decide which sex they want to be.”

Though Czechia’s ruling brings the country in line with the European Court of Human Right’s 2013 ruling against Malta where it was decided by the that gender not be determined by medical assessment, transgender policy is a long way from settling whether it is everyone’s responsibility to grant agency to the will of the individual or to curtail the bodily autonomy of others.