Two advocacy organizations and five families with gender diverse children have filed legal action against the Alberta government for its legislation that limits access to medical treatment for transgender youth.
An originating application was filed on Monday in the Court of King’s Bench of Alberta in which the applicants allege that Bill 26, which became law last week, violates the Charter of Rights and Freedoms and contradicts the province’s own Bill of Rights.
The legislation prohibits doctors from performing gender-reassignment surgeries on minors (those under 18) – which is already incredibly rare in Alberta – and from prescribing puberty blockers and hormone therapies for those under 16. It is part of a trio of recently passed laws that affect transgender people, together forming the most restrictive package in Canada regarding gender, sexuality and identity.
Bennett Jensen, legal director of Egale Canada, one of the non-profits leading the legal battle, said the primary motivation is to protect vulnerable children. But the legal action also serves to prevent a “ripple effect” of these policies across the country.
“You have kids who rely on this care to be able to continue to live,” Mr. Jensen said. “I’m not trying to be dramatic at all – I am hearing from young person after young person after young person that if they are denied access to this care, they will take their own life. … The stakes couldn’t be higher.”
Skipping Stone Foundation, which provides supports to gender and sexually diverse youth and adults, and five families with children between the ages of 6 and 11, all of whom are now prevented from accessing gender-affirming care, are involved in the legal action.
The applicants allege that the legislation violates people’s Section 7 Charter right to life, liberty and security of the person; Section 12 right to be free from cruel and unusual treatment; and Section 15 right to equal treatment under the law. They say it also defies the newly amended Alberta Bill of Rights, which reinforces the right for people to decide whether to receive any medical procedure.
“If it remains in force, gender diverse young people in this province will suffer serious and irreparable harm. This Honourable Court should enjoin it – and then strike it down,” the application states. None of the allegations have been proven in court.
Chinenye Anokwuru, press secretary to Alberta Justice Minister Mickey Amery, declined to comment on the current legal action as it is before the courts. But she said, in a statement, that the government believes the legislation “strikes an appropriate balance.”
Alberta Premier Danielle Smith first announced the raft of proposed laws in January, which quickly sparked outrage from federal ministers, Alberta’s big city mayors, medical experts and transgender advocates. The other legislation bans transgender participation in women’s and girls’ sports divisions and requires parental consent for name and pronoun changes in school.
Mr. Jensen said the two advocacy organizations intend to legally challenge Alberta on its other laws at a later date.
The Premier has said that she doesn’t think the notwithstanding clause, which is a rarely used mechanism that allows government to override certain sections of the Charter of Rights and Freedoms for up to five years, will be needed to shield Alberta from legal action. Saskatchewan invoked the notwithstanding clause to pass similar pronoun legislation last September.
The Alberta applicants argue that forcing children to undergo pubertal development that is inconsistent with their gender identity can cause significant distress and have lifelong consequences. It will result in some individuals having to receive “more difficult, less efficacious, riskier and potentially uninsured medical intervention in adulthood.”
Gender dysphoria, if left untreated, can result in anxiety, depression, self-harm and suicide, the application further states.
“The health care ban denies gender diverse young people the opportunity to provide informed consent to treatments that medical professionals recommend, including treatments that are reversible or partially reversible,” it said. “In doing so, the law inserts the provincial government into relationships between parents and children and between doctors and patients.”
With a file from The Canadian Press