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Alberta judge grants temporary injunction blocking a transgender health-care bill

Alberta judge grants temporary injunction blocking a transgender health-care bill

Edmonton Journal7 hours ago

Article content
'This isn't just a win for trans youth, it is a win for Canada's health-care system,' Wells wrote on social media.
'No politician should be dictating or restricting your access to evidence-based medical care.'
Egale and the Skipping Stone Foundation aren't the only groups challenging the bill.
Last month, the Canadian Medical Association and three Alberta-based doctors launched a legal case challenging the constitutionality of the bill, arguing it violates their Charter right to freedom of conscience.
Alberta's other two pieces of transgender legislation _ banning transgender women from competing in womens sports and preventing youth under 16 from changing their name or pronouns in the school system without parental consent — have yet to be challenged in court.
The education bill also requires parents to opt in for their children to receive lessons in school on sexuality, sexual orientation and gender identity.
— with files from Aaron Sousa

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EDMONTON — An Alberta judge has put on hold a provincial law that bans doctors from providing gender-affirming care to youth. Article content Justice Allison Kuntz, in a written judgment Friday, said the law raises serious Charter issues that need to be hashed out in court, and issued a temporary injunction against it before it fully came into effect. Article content Kuntz wrote that a temporary stop is needed while the issue is debated. Article content Article content 'The evidence shows that singling out health care for gender diverse youth and making it subject to government control will cause irreparable harm to gender diverse youth by reinforcing the discrimination and prejudice that they are already subjected to,' Kuntz wrote in the judgment. Article content Article content 'Intentionally or not, the ban will signal that there is something wrong with or suspect about having a gender identity that is different than the sex you were assigned at birth.' Article content The law, passed late last year but not fully in effect, bans doctors from providing treatment such as puberty blockers and hormone therapy to those under 16. Article content LGBTQ+ advocacy groups Egale Canada and the Skipping Stone Foundation — as well as five transgender youth who would be affected by the law — took the province to court the same month it passed. Article content In the Friday decision, Kuntz wrote that denying treatment risks causing youth emotional harm and exposing them to permanent physical changes that don't match their gender identity. Article content The government, according to the decision, argued that claims of harm were speculative considering the law wasn't fully in effect, and that the treatments the law seeks to ban aren't scientifically supported. Article content Kuntz wrote that the advocacy groups also submitted scientific evidence on the treatments that support their perspectives, but the injunction hearings weren't the appropriate stage to determine which side's evidence stood taller. Article content Kuntz, however, largely sided with the advocacy group's evidence in her decision. Article content She wrote that the government's scientific evidence wasn't 'so overwhelming' as to prevent a finding that the youth's human rights are being infringed upon. Article content The province also argued that the law didn't cause the psychological harm facing the youth involved in the case, but it was a result of going through puberty. Article content 'The starting point for an alleged harm might not be caused by government action, but government action may impact an individual's ability to address the harm in a way that infringes their Charter rights and causes further harm,' Kuntz wrote in response to that argument.

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