Alberta Premier Danielle Smith said Wednesday those who question her rationale for the government’s law restricting health care for transgender youth need to read up on puberty.
Smith has defended the law that prohibits doctors from prescribing puberty blockers for those under 16, saying the drugs permanently sterilize children.
“I encourage you to look up what puberty is,” she said to reporters in Edmonton.
“Puberty is the process a child goes through to become sexually mature so they can have babies. Puberty blockers, by very definition, stops that process.”
Doctors and medical associations say puberty blockers temporarily pause biological changes, which can be restarted once their use is discontinued.
Smith said she wants to preserve that choice for children until they are older.
The premier said her government is prepared to defend its position in court and she’s willing to use the notwithstanding clause to override Charter rights.
— More to come…