A “Gender Affirming Health Care Advisory Committee Act” – Bill 17 – was introduced in Ontario last week by NDP MPP Suze Morrison. It passed first and second readings within 24 hours, and was referred to the Social Policy Committee of the Ontario Legislature. If only the government could work this quickly on all matters!

But Bill 17 should really concern you.

Bill 17 seeks to establish a committee to promote gender affirming health care, including greater access and enhanced insurance coverage for surgical procedures and non-surgical care related to gender transition.

Parents should be very alarmed because if this Bill passes, it will make it all that much easier for children to start the process to change their genders. This Bill could also make it easier for experts to refer children for care—with or without parental consent! Some parents are already being kept in the dark by school authorities, when their children have begun to socially transition at school.

The bill requests that the majority of the members of the committee are to be members of the LGBTQ community. It also provides a list of who should be consulted with this Bill, and guess what? Parents are not even listed. In fact, the word “parent” isn’t even mentioned once in the Bill.

MPP Morrison announced the bill on her Twitter feed this week.

But can MPP Morrison truthfully say that science supports the gender affirmative approach?

If passed, Ontario would be bucking the trend in other jurisdictions such as Sweden, which in recent years has INCREASED its restrictions on minors transitioning by preventing access to surgery for minors and most recently banning puberty blockers for minors not enrolled in clinical studies. This was prompted by a sharp drop-off in doctor referrals to Swedish gender clinics due to doubts that fast-tracking children to puberty blockers and cross-sex hormones were the best way to treat gender dysphoria. A preliminary report commissioned by the Swedish National Board of Health and Welfare has concluded that since a high percentage of dysphoric children suffer from co-morbidities such as depression, anxiety and self-harm behaviours that may require lifelong treatment, proper treatment for dysphoric children needs to allow comprehensive counselling for these conditions. 

In a recent Nanos poll on Canadian attitudes toward gender-affirmative healthcare, a majority of Canadians- 72% - said they thought healthcare providers should provide information on a range of counselling options to minors, including the “watchful waiting” option, and not solely the gender-affirmative approach. 

Let’s contact Ontario legislators as soon as possible and tell them that this bill stands to seriously jeopardize the health of children!

ACTION ITEM:

1.  If you live in Ontario please contact your MPP and ask them to oppose Bill 17 because it would allow the continued hijacking of healthcare by trans groups with the end goal of making children’s access to gender affirmative healthcare easier. Explain that you think that the health care system in Ontario should not promote the gender affirmative approach over the watchful waiting approach as the science on the value of gender affirmative care is still highly unsettled.

2. Find your MPP’s contact information by clicking this link and scrolling down to the bottom of the page to the “Find My MPP” box.

3. Please also cc. the Conservative MPP and Minister of Health, Christine Elliott: [email protected].