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Globe and Mail
09-08-2025
- Health
- Globe and Mail
Alberta government appeals temporary injunction of transgender health care law
Alberta is appealing a temporary injunction of a law banning doctors from providing gender-affirming care to youth. A judge granted the injunction in June, ruling the provincial law raises serious Charter issues that need to be hashed out in an ongoing court challenge of the legislation. Court of King's Bench Justice Allison Kuntz said the law is likely to cause irreparable harm to gender-diverse youth and she didn't find the contrary evidence submitted by the province to be overwhelming. The government, in an appeal filed to the Calgary court last month, argues the injunction was premature, since it wasn't fully in effect. It also claims the judge made a mistake and 'mixed fact and law' in deciding the legislation would cause irreparable harm. The Decibel: The legal fight over gender-affirming health care in Alberta Justice Minister Mickey Amery's press secretary, Heather Jenkins, said the law was passed to protect children from making potentially irreversible decisions about their bodies. 'Alberta's government will continue to vigorously defend our position in court,' she said in an email Friday. Egale Canada, one of the groups challenging the law along with five transgender youth, says it respects the province's right to appeal but believes the judge made the right decision. 'The Court of King's Bench, relying on extensive expert testimony and evidence, affirmed what we have long argued – that denying gender-affirming care causes irreparable harm,' Egale's legal director, Bennett Jensen, said in an email. 'The context of this case remains clear: the government is interfering in the relationship between doctors and patients by seeking to ban medically necessary, evidence-based care for an already marginalized group of youth.' The law bans doctors from providing treatment such as puberty blockers and hormone therapy to those under 16. Opinion: The real health care wait-time scandal? Political meddling Kuntz wrote in her decision that denying treatment could cause youth emotional and psychological harm and expose them to permanent physical changes that don't match their gender identity. She also said the ban would reinforce the discrimination and prejudice they already experience. 'Intentionally or not, the ban will signal that there is something wrong with or suspect about having a gender identity that is different than the sex you were assigned at birth,' the judge wrote. The province had argued against the injunction, saying claims the law would harm youth were speculative because the ban hadn't been enforced yet. The government also said any psychological harm would be a result of puberty, though the judge largely rebuffed that argument. The Canadian Medical Association and three Alberta-based doctors are also challenging the law's constitutionality in a separate case. The doctors argue the law violates their Charter right to freedom of conscience. MHCare demands AHS investigation results The law came from a trio of bills affecting transgender people that Premier Danielle Smith's United Conservative Party government passed last year. The other pieces of legislation ban transgender women from competing in women's sports and require children under 16 have parental consent to change their names or pronouns at school. Parents are also required to opt in their children for school lessons on sexuality, sexual orientation and gender identity. Alberta's law followed Saskatchewan, which passed its own law in 2023 that requires parental consent for students under 16 who want to change their names or pronouns. That government invoked the Charter's notwithstanding clause in response to a court challenge launched in part by Egale Canada as well. Despite Saskatchewan's use of the notwithstanding clause, a judge ruled that a challenge could continue on the legislation, though that decision was appealed by the province. A decision on Saskatchewan's appeal is expected Monday. Smith has said invoking the notwithstanding clause isn't off the table to ensure Alberta's gender-affirming care ban is enforced.
CBC
08-08-2025
- Health
- CBC
Alberta government appeals injunction of transgender health-care law
Alberta is appealing a temporary injunction of a law banning doctors from providing gender-affirming care to youth. A judge ruled in June that the provincial law raises serious Charter issues that need to be hashed out in an ongoing court challenge of the legislation. Court of King's Bench Justice Allison Kuntz ruled the law is likely to cause irreparable harm to gender diverse youth and contrary evidence submitted from the province wasn't overwhelming enough. The government argues the injunction was premature, since the law wasn't fully in effect, and that the judge made a mistake in deciding it would cause irreparable harm. It has said the law was passed to protect children from making potentially irreversible decisions about their bodies.
Global News
08-08-2025
- Health
- Global News
Alberta government appeals injunction of transgender health-care law
See more sharing options Send this page to someone via email Share this item on Twitter Share this item via WhatsApp Share this item on Facebook Alberta is appealing a temporary injunction of a law banning doctors from providing gender-affirming care to youth. A judge ruled in June that the provincial law raises serious Charter issues that need to be hashed out in an ongoing court challenge of the legislation. Court of King's Bench Justice Allison Kuntz ruled the law is likely to cause irreparable harm to gender diverse youth and contrary evidence submitted from the province wasn't overwhelming enough. Get breaking National news For news impacting Canada and around the world, sign up for breaking news alerts delivered directly to you when they happen. Sign up for breaking National newsletter Sign Up By providing your email address, you have read and agree to Global News' Terms and Conditions and Privacy Policy The government argues the injunction was premature, since the law wasn't fully in effect, and that the judge made a mistake in deciding it would cause irreparable harm. It has said the law was passed to protect children from making potentially irreversible decisions about their bodies. Egale Canada, one of the groups challenging the law, says it respects the province's right to appeal but believes the judge made the right decision. Story continues below advertisement — More to come…
Winnipeg Free Press
08-08-2025
- Health
- Winnipeg Free Press
Alberta government appeals injunction of transgender health-care law
CALGARY – Alberta is appealing a temporary injunction of a law banning doctors from providing gender-affirming care to youth. A judge ruled in June that the provincial law raises serious Charter issues that need to be hashed out in an ongoing court challenge of the legislation. Court of King's Bench Justice Allison Kuntz ruled the law is likely to cause irreparable harm to gender diverse youth and contrary evidence submitted from the province wasn't overwhelming enough. The government argues the injunction was premature, since the law wasn't fully in effect, and that the judge made a mistake in deciding it would cause irreparable harm. It has said the law was passed to protect children from making potentially irreversible decisions about their bodies. Egale Canada, one of the groups challenging the law, says it respects the province's right to appeal but believes the judge made the right decision. Wednesdays What's next in arts, life and pop culture. This report by The Canadian Press was first published Aug. 8, 2025. — By Jack Farrell in Edmonton
Vancouver Sun
08-08-2025
- Health
- Vancouver Sun
Alberta appeals court's injunction against new transgender health-care rules for kids
EDMONTON — The Alberta government has appealed an injunction granted by the courts that prevents the implementation of restrictions around health care for transgender minors in the province. In late June, Justice Allison Kuntz concluded that the new rules, which passed late last year but were not fully in effect, raised serious Charter concerns that needed to be hashed out in court. She granted an injunction until those issues could be settled. 'The evidence shows that there is a benefit to the public in issuing the injunction because it will allow this marginalized group to continue receiving medical care from trusted doctors and a broader team of health professionals thereby avoiding the adverse consequences the Ban will have on them,' Kuntz wrote in her decision. Start your day with a roundup of B.C.-focused news and opinion. By signing up you consent to receive the above newsletter from Postmedia Network Inc. A welcome email is on its way. If you don't see it, please check your junk folder. The next issue of Sunrise will soon be in your inbox. Please try again Interested in more newsletters? Browse here. On July 25, the provincial government appealed the injunction to the Alberta Court of Appeal, arguing that Kuntz had erred in pausing the restrictions. Last year, the Alberta government passed legislation that sought to ban doctors from providing treatment such as puberty blockers and hormone therapy to those under the age of 16 and enacted a total ban on gender-reassignment surgery for minors in the province. In response to the changes, Egale Canada, an LGBTQ advocacy group, along with the Skipping Stone Foundation and five transgender youth, sued the Alberta government and sought a pause on the new rules until the courts could decide on their constitutionality. At the time the injunction was issued, Alberta Premier Danielle Smith vowed to fight on. 'The court had said that they think that there will be irreparable harm if the law goes ahead. I feel the reverse,' Smith said on her radio program, Your Province, Your Premier, the day after Kuntz's decision was issued. Asked about the decision to appeal Kuntz's ruling, Heather Jenkins, a spokesperson for Alberta Justice Minister Mickey Amery, said in an emailed statement that the legislation was passed to 'protect children and youth when making life-altering and potentially irreversible adult decisions about their bodies. 'Alberta's government will continue to vigorously defend our position in court,' Jenkins wrote. Amery was not made available for an interview. Bennett Jensen, the director of legal at Egale Canada, said the advocacy group respects the right of the government to appeal the decision, but that the province was seeking to interfere with 'the relationship between doctors and patients by seeking to ban medically necessary, evidence-based care for an already marginalized group of youth.' 'We urge the Government to focus on the real challenges facing Alberta's health care system. This is not one of them,' said Jensen in an emailed statement. Last December, Smith had said that using the Notwithstanding Clause — which would allow the law to stand irrespective of what the courts concluded — is also an option before the government, although Smith maintains that the government can win in court and won't pre-emptively use the notwithstanding clause to shield its rules from court scrutiny. The medical treatment of transgender minors has become a major policy debate since the release of the Cass Review the U.K. in April 2024, which disputed some of the evidence surrounding the treatment of gender dysphoria in minors. The Alberta government moved to enact the most stringent restrictions in Canada on health care for transgender minors last fall. 'Prematurely encouraging or enabling children to alter their very biology or natural growth, no matter how well intentioned and sincere, poses a risk to that child's future that I, as premier, am not comfortable with permitting in our province,' Smith said last November. The Alberta Medical Association has spoken out against the United Conservative government's restrictions, arguing that the treatment options provided — including the use of puberty blockers and hormone therapy — follow the standards of care set out by the Canadian Paediatric Society and the American Academy of Pediatrics. 'Governmental interference by legislating medical therapy options is inappropriate, unethical and represents serious government overreach into the practice of medicine and patient/family rights to autonomy in their health care decisions,' the group's pediatrics section wrote in a statement last November . Our website is the place for the latest breaking news, exclusive scoops, longreads and provocative commentary. Please bookmark and sign up for our daily newsletter, Posted, here .
