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.
Touting it as a move to protect children, Premier Danielle Smith positioned Alberta as the most restrictive in Canada and introduced a suite of policies impacting transgender youth this week, including a ban on the use of puberty blocking medication and hormone therapy in children under 16, for the purposes of gender affirmation.
While Smith also announced a prohibition on gender-affirming surgeries in children under 18, lower surgeries are already
