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NEW DEMOCRATS CALL FOR COVERAGE FOR SEX REASSIGNMENT SURGERY

3 Jun 09

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
JUNE 3, 2009

NEW DEMOCRATS CALL FOR COVERAGE FOR SEX REASSIGNMENT SURGERY

OTTAWA-Today New Democrat Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual, Transgender and Transsexual Critic Bill Siksay (MP, Burnaby-Douglas) has tabled a motion in the House of Commons which calls on the government to ensure full health care coverage for Canadians who seek Sex Reassignment Surgery (SRS).

“Sex Reassignment Surgery is a medically necessary procedure that must be available to members of the transgender and transsexual community. SRS is not a frill nor is it an elective process but rather it’s a necessity for the health, happiness and well-being of some Canadians,” said Siksay. “As a medically necessary procedure, it and its related therapies must be fully covered under the provisions of the Canada Health Act”

“The Canada Health Act’s comprehensiveness and accessibility guarantees should ensure that trans Canadians have access to appropriate health care, and that they are not forced to pay out of their own pockets for this procedure. The federal government must ensure the meaningful application of the Canada Health Act when provinces de-list medically necessary procedures like SRS,” concluded Judy Wasylycia-Leis, New Democrat Health Critic.

Siksay also recently wrote to Minister of Health Leona Aglukkaq on this issue.

Siksay’s motion reads as follows:

M-394 — That, in the opinion of the House, the de-listing of medicare coverage for medically necessary sex reassignment surgery (SRS), and related therapies, violates the accessibility and comprehensiveness criteria of the Canada Health Act, and the government should take immediate steps to ensure appropriate health care is accessible across Canada to transsexual and transgender persons.