People protest Alberta Premier Danielle Smith’s proposed youth transgender policies in Ottawa on Feb. 5, 2024.PATRICK DOYLE/The Canadian Press
The Alberta Medical Association, which advocates on behalf of thousands of local doctors, says it strongly supports its national counterpart in taking the provincial government to court over its transgender legislation.
On Wednesday, the Canadian Medical Association filed a constitutional challenge in the Court of King’s Bench of Alberta against Bill 26, which limits access to medical care for transgender youth. Three Alberta doctors, all of whom provide gender-affirming care, are co-applicants in the filing.
The CMA contends that Bill 26, which became law last December, violates physicians’ freedom of conscience as guaranteed in Section 2 of the Charter of Rights and Freedoms. The organization says the bill undermines the principle of clinical autonomy and “cuts at the core” of a physician’s professional identity.
“This profound violation cannot be justified in a free and democratic society,” the application states.
Shelley Duggan, president of the AMA, said in a statement released Wednesday that the provincial organization supports “in the strongest terms” the legal action brought forward by the CMA.
“The CMA’s review application addresses the moral distress of physicians who are being barred from delivering the evidence-based care that they are called to provide under both their code of ethics and the standard of care,” Dr. Duggan said.
“That distress is real. I hear it every day in many places.”
The legislation bars doctors from prescribing puberty blockers and hormone therapies for people under 16 and prohibits any gender-reassignment surgeries on minors (those under 18) – which are already performed rarely in Alberta.
Heather Jenkins, press secretary to Alberta Justice Minister Mickey Amery, said in a statement Wednesday that the Alberta government will “vigorously” defend its position in court.
“Bill 26 was introduced to protect and preserve children and youth from potentially irreversible decisions,” she said.
This is the second legal action that has been taken against the Alberta government for Bill 26.
Advocacy groups Egale Canada and Skipping Stone Foundation, together with families with gender-diverse children, filed a legal challenge last December that alleges the law violates several Charter-protected rights and contradicts Alberta’s own Bill of Rights.
Premier Danielle Smith has defended Bill 26 as necessary to protect children from making life-altering decisions that they could later regret. She has argued that the legislation strikes a balance between protecting children and upholding the rights of transgender people.
Children’s Healthcare Canada, in a statement Wednesday, also voiced support for the CMA’s constitutional challenge.
Jillian Demontigny, Jake Donaldson and Joseph Raiche, the Alberta doctors who are co-applicants with the CMA, said in their individual affidavits that this legislation has put them in an impossible position. They argue that they must now choose between compromising their ethical standards or breaking the law.
Dr. Demontigny, in her affidavit, said restricting gender-affirming care for youth can cause suffering, including from gender dysphoria and gender incongruence. She said this type of care is vital and only provided after meaningful consultation.
“I cannot in good conscience abandon these patients,” she said.
Dr. Raiche, in his affidavit, said he is “profoundly troubled by the grave human cost” that the prohibitions will bring.
“Denying treatment and telling physicians that they are powerless to act is not a neutral posture,” he said. “It is an affront to the dignity of patients whose dignity is already under daily attack by our society, and to the professional and ethical agency of doctors who care for them.”
With a report from Kristy Kirkup in Ottawa
