Pierre Poilievre, the Conservative leader, stated on Wednesday that he does not support trans children taking hormone therapy or other interventions like puberty blockers, which are used to pause the period before a potential gender transition.
Before a Conservative conference meeting, Poilievre told reporters on Parliament Hill that only adults should decide to pursue transgender treatments.
“Puberty blockers for kids,” Poilievre said, “we should protect children and their capacity for mature judgment once they reach adulthood.”
“I believe we should defend parents’ right to make their own decisions regarding their children.”
Poilievre responded that he is opposed to puberty blockers for people under the age of 18 when asked to make a firm statement about it.
That goes beyond what Alberta Premier Danielle Smith has suggested for her province.
Smith has put restrictions on hormone therapy for kids 15 and under and puberty blockers in place after announcing several transgender procedures next week.
In order to stop unwanted bodily changes, such as breast development or facial hair, puberty blockers—hormone-suppressing medications that stop the progression of puberty—are frequently prescribed to individuals in the early stages of puberty.
Kids are only given them after a doctor’s recommendation.
They can occasionally be used in conjunction with hormone therapy, which can have long-term, irreversible effects.
Poilievre claims he opposes puberty blockers for trans kids.
In response to inquiries from reporters about his opinions on gender-affirming medical solutions for transgender children, Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre stated that he opposes the use of puberty blockers for adolescents.
“Gender-affirming medical interventions may be an important component of comprehensive care” for some transgender or gender-diverse adolescents, according to the Canadian Pediatric Society (CPS).
Access to puberty blockers “has been associated with lower chances of suicidal thinking over the course of life,” according to the CPS, which cites clinical studies.
For medical reasons, as well as the fact that puberty is “an important experience through which young people may develop a clearer understanding of their gender identity,” it has been argued that these medications shouldn’t be prescribed before the onset.
A treatment called cross-sex hormone therapy is used to assist people with gender dysphoria in transitioning from their natural sex to their preferred gender.
Only young people who “demonstrate the capacity to understand and appreciate both the benefits and risks of these drugs, given their profound effects,” according to the CPS, should receive hormone therapy because it causes both reversible and irreversible changes.
People with gender dysphoria may “have the freedom to make any choice they want about their bodies,” according to Poilievre.
Smith’s policy announcement sparked the regional discussion about transgender treatment, but Poilievre claimed that Prime Minister Justin Trudeau was to blame for upsetting the media and the public.
The Conservative Party is using transgender health care as “a controversial wedge” to “distract from doubling grocery costs and quadrupling gas income,” according to Poilievre.
According to him, “Justin Trudeau is puffing out his chest, trying to divide Canadians and attacking parents who are attempting to protect their children.”
Trudeau has denounced Smith’s “anti-LGBT” plans, which he claims may cause mental health issues and a rise in suicidal thoughts among teenagers.
Trudeau has not specifically addressed Smith’s proposal to restrict hormone therapy or puberty blockers.
In response to Alberta’s move to require that some transgender children obtain parental consent before using their preferred names and pronouns at school, Employment Minister Randy Boissonnault, an openly gay person who has come out to criticize Smith for his plan, has spoken out.
