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Alberta transgender policies: Edmonton pediatrician breaks down current gender dysphoria practices

By Carly Robinson. Edmonton City News. Feb 3, 2024.

"The pediatrics section of the Alberta Medical Association is raising concerns over proposed changes to healthcare for transgender youth. Carly Robinson speaks with an physician specializing in gender affirming care for teens.

     Some pediatricians in Alberta are speaking out against the province’s new proposals regarding the health care of transgender youth.

     The Alberta Medical Association is urging Premier Danielle Smith to reconsider legislation limiting puberty blockers and hormone therapies.

     The medical professionals say that the decision belongs to the patient, their medical team and – when dealing with a minor – their parents.

     'This is a huge intrusion into someone’s privacy, into someone’s medical care. It’s putting government in your chart, in your space,' said Dr. Simone Lebeuf, an adolescent medicine pediatrician in Edmonton who specializes in treating transgender and gender-diverse youth.

     'We’re all surprised, not just from the gender-affirming care perspective, but physicians who want to practise evidence-based medicine and don’t want non-experts guiding those decisions,' Lebeuf said."

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Calgary sexual health doctor reacts to Alberta gender identity policy

Global News Morning Calgary TV interview. Feb 2, 2024.

"Calgary physician, Dr Ted Jablonski, joins Global News Morning Calgary to discuss the province's new gender identity policy announced by Premier Danielle Smith, and outlines his concerns around what it could mean for the trans community."

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Doctors call out contradictions in UCP gender policies, say policies create 'culture of fear'

By Brittany Ekelund, CTVNewsEdmonton.ca Journalist .  Feb 8, 2024.

"I think there's some misinformation being propagated within these policies and the conversations around them," said pediatrician Dr. Tehseen Ladha. "There's this notion that these policies are preventing things that are irreversible, when actually hormone-blockers or pubertal-blockers are reversible."

      According to the Canadian Paediatric Society (CPS), natural puberty resumes when the medication is stopped and fertility is not affected long-term.

      The medications have been used to treat numerous medical conditions for decades, and Ladha said the side effects are mild and minor.

      Greenaway said puberty-blockers give trans youth time to consider "complicated decisions about their future" without the distress and emotional harm that puberty brings for many trans and non-binary youth.

      Limiting them to 16-year-old patients – who have likely already entered or finished puberty – effectively removes them entirely as a treatment option, Greenaway said.

      "So, Premier Smith's declaration that preserving youths' choice in the future could be rescued by limiting our ability to act with puberty blockers is actually opposite to how we understand this situation," she added.

      "It removes such an important intervention that we know supports mental health, wellness, as well as decreases suicidality and self harm in these youth … that is not at all understanding medically what we need to do to support the youth that we're seeing," she added."

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Doctors say Alberta premier's policy changes around trans youth could be harmful

By Camille Bains. The Canadian Press. Feb 2, 2024.

Excerpts from article:

    "Doctors are criticizing Alberta Premier Danielle Smith for her medically “false” statements about transgender youth care and gender reassignment surgery, saying her plan risks harming the vulnerable group.

     Dr. Tehseen Ladha, a pediatrician in Edmonton, said Smith is stoking fears by inferring as “dangerous” the therapies that are offered after extensive consultations among pediatricians, mental health experts and endocrinologists, sometimes over several years.

     “Firstly, she doesn’t have the medical expertise to be able to make that decision about whether gender-affirming care is appropriate. Secondly, calling some of these things irreversible or harmful is simply false,” Ladha said.

“These therapies that we’re offering below the age of 18 are reversible. Hormone therapy is reversible. It’s being framed as something that is harmful, when in fact, in my clinical experience, it has been quite affirming and positive for youth and children dealing with these issues.”

     No one in the province under age 18 has had bottom surgery so Smith seems to be creating an irrelevant issue, said Ladha, also an assistant professor at the University of Alberta.

     Many teens have identified as the opposite gender since they were preschoolers and are not making a frivolous decision or being influenced by others if they seek medical help, said Ladha, adding she is wondering how trans youth, who already face higher suicide rates, will be affected by the province’s policies in the long run."

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Doctors, nurses and medical groups urge province to walk back plans to limit gender-affirming care

Canadian Paediatric Society, Alberta Medical Association speak out

By Jennifer Lee. CBC News. Feb 02, 2024.

"Sweeping changes to gender-affirming care, announced by the Alberta government this week, are sparking widespread backlash and condemnation from doctors, nurses and medical organizations — and calls are mounting for the province to reverse its decision.

      Dr. Joe Raiche, a psychiatrist who works in the youth gender clinic at the Alberta Children's Hospital, called the policies "shocking" and "devastating." "This does tremendous harm. It has the potential to cause an irreparable impact on lives of trans youth and families," he said, adding no clinicians at the youth gender clinics in either Calgary or Edmonton were consulted on the policy.

      Dr. Jake Donaldson, a Calgary-based family physician who treats gender diverse youth and adults, is worried about his patients.  "Most studies, including here in Canada and here in Alberta, have shown that about 40 per cent of gender diverse individuals will try to kill themselves at some point if they are not in a supportive environment," he said in an interview on CBC Radio's Alberta at Noon.  "So it really can be a life-or-death situation for some of these kids."

     According to Donaldson, the policy puts doctors in a position where they face violating the Hippocratic oath.  "I took an oath when I went through medical training that I'm not going to do any harm to individuals," he said.  "If I sit back and do nothing … and force them to go through a transition that does not match their gender identity and live a life in a body that's going to leave them as a target of hateful violence … that just breaks my heart. I don't know if I can accept that."  "

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Edmonton pediatrician says Smith 'drumming up fear' with new policies on trans health care

By Brittany Ekelund. CTVNewsEdmonton.ca Journalist. Feb 2, 2024.

"Smith said the Alberta government wants to stop trans people under 18 years old from getting top or bottom surgery. It also wants to prevent trans youth under 16 years old from accessing puberty-blocking medication.

     "That was drumming up fear, to be honest. That was drumming up some controversy where there is no controversy," said Simone Lebeuf, an adolescent medicine pediatrician specializing in gender-affirming care.

     Lebeuf said young people are not being offered irreversible medical procedures.

In Alberta, a person already has to be 18 years old or older to get onto the roughly three-year-long waiting list for a provincially funded gender-affirming surgery.

     Lebeuf said puberty-blockers are often misunderstood. It's a medication that has been used safely in children with different medical conditions for decades."

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Legal experts raise concerns about Alberta's plans for transgender youth

By Colette Derworiz, The Canadian Press. Feb 15, 2024.

"Thirty-six law professors, legal researchers and other staff from Alberta's two largest universities are asking the province to reconsider policy changes affecting transgender youth.

     The open letter, sent Thursday, was signed by staff at the University of Alberta and University of Calgary law schools.

     "We have come together to express our deep concerns with the government's announcement of restrictions targeting transgender youth," says the letter.

     “These restrictions will harm two-spirit, trans, and gender diverse children and youth by undermining their education, restricting their access to health care, and narrowing their sport and recreation opportunities.

     The experts say the proposed changes violate multiple sections of the Charter, including freedom of expression, the right to security of the person, and say the rules may constitute cruel and unusual treatment.

     The letter also addresses Smith’s refusal to rule out using the Charter’s notwithstanding clause to push through the changes.

     “We believe that it would be wrong for the government to invoke the notwithstanding clause to force through legislation that violates the Charter rights of minors,” said the letter.

     The legal experts note the Supreme Court of Canada has recognized the transgender community as a marginalized group in Canadian society.

     "Two-spirit, trans, and gender diverse youth are especially vulnerable," says the letter.

     "They depend on adults to care for them. Too often, adults in their lives are not prepared to accept and care for them because of who they are. They are bullied. They are subject to violence and gender-based victimization.

     "The Charter has a critical role to play in protecting them, given their heightened vulnerability."

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