CALGARY, Alberta (LifeSiteNews) — Alberta has unveiled its much-anticipated pro-family legislation protecting children and parental rights from the worst results of transgender ideology.
On January 31, Alberta Premier Danielle Smith announced new legislation that, if passed, would ban doctors from medically ‘transitioning’ children, require parental consent for pronoun changes in school, and bar men claiming to be women from women’s sports.
Gender identity can be a hard thing to talk about, especially when you are involved. But this conversation is extremely important and parental involvement is critical. Kids need to know we love and support them.
My message to all Albertans: pic.twitter.com/i0ii57GLa6— Danielle Smith (@ABDanielleSmith) January 31, 2024
“Making permanent and irreversible decisions regarding one’s biological sex while still a youth can severely limit that child’s choices in the future,” Smith warned in a video posted to X, formerly known as Twitter.
“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,” she added.
Under the new regulations, top (mastectomies, breast construction) and bottom (vaginoplasty, phalloplasty) surgery is not permitted for children 17 and under. Puberty blockers are also restricted to those age 16 and older with parental consent.
“It is my view that the list of adult choices includes deciding whether or not to alter one’s biological sex,” she explained.
Defending parental rights in schools
Alberta is also introducing policies to unhold parental rights within the school system and to protect children from being indoctrinated by the LGBT agenda.
As in Saskatchewan and New Brunswick, parents must be notified if teachers plan to instruct students on “gender identity” or discuss sexual topics in the classroom.
The new policy also mandates that all third-party resource materials or presentations “related to gender identity, sexual orientation, or human sexuality in our K-12 school system will need to be pre-approved by the Ministry of Education.”
Additionally, parental consent is required for children up to 15 years old who wish to go by a different name or be referred to by opposite-sex pronouns at school. For children aged 16 and 17, parental consent is not required, but parents must be informed of their child’s decision.
Nearly all parents, even those who may disagree with the decisions of their children, will love and care for their children no matter what choices they make,” Smith said.
“However, in the handful of rare situations where one or both of the parents reject or become abusive to a child who identifies as transgender, we have child protection laws that will be strictly enforced.”
READ: Alberta’s Danielle Smith announces new parental rights policy to be released this week
Barring biological men from dominating in women’s sports
Additionally, Smith introduced a new policy to protect women and girls from competing against biological men who claim to be women.
“Our government also needs to deal with the emerging issue of the unfair disadvantages that young women and girls are experiencing when competing with biologically stronger transgender female [sic] athletes in sporting competitions,” Smith said.
Smith pointed out that “there are obvious biological realities that give transgender female athletes a massive competitive advantage over women and girls.”
Accordingly, Smith promised that women and girls will “have the choice to compete in a women’s only division in athletic competitions and are not forced to compete against biologically stronger transgender female athletes.”
The new policy comes as studies have repeatedly revealed that gender-confused males hold a massive advantage over women in athletic competitions. A recent study published in Sports Medicine found that a year of transgender hormone drugs results in “very modest changes” in the inherent strength advantages of men.
Smith succumbed to the LGBT mob by using their language
While the new regulations provide protection to both parents and children, Smith used the LGBT movement’s terminology in what seems to be an attempt to appease it.
Throughout her speech, Smith refers to men wanting to compete in women’s competitions as “transgender female athletes” and to “gender identity.”
Perhaps the most surprising revelation is that Alberta wants to hire medical professionals to perform transgender surgery in the province.
“We will also be building a private registry of medical professionals who specialize in this field to better support the lifelong health care needs of transgender Albertans including access to needed hormones and surgery,” Smith said.
This is unexpected from the conservative premier, especially considering research does not support transgender activists’ claims that surgical or pharmaceutical intervention to “affirm” confusion is “necessary medical care” or that it is helpful in preventing the suicides of gender-confused individuals.
In fact, in addition to asserting a false reality that one’s sex can be changed, transgender surgeries and drugs have been linked to permanent physical and psychological damage, including cardiovascular diseases, loss of bone density, cancer, strokes and blood clots, infertility, and suicidality.
READ: LGBT activists are scared New Brunswick’s premier will win on a parental rights platform
There is also overwhelming evidence that those who undergo so-called “gender transitioning” are more likely to commit suicide than those who are not given irreversible surgery. A Swedish study found that those who underwent so-called “gender reassignment” surgery ended up with a 19.2 times greater risk of suicide.
Indeed, there is proof that the most loving and helpful approach to people who think they are a different sex is not to validate them in their confusion but to show them the truth.
A new study on the side effects of transgender “sex change” surgeries discovered that 81 percent of those who had undergone “sex change” surgeries in the past five years reported experiencing pain simply from normal movement in the weeks and months that followed — and that many other side effects manifest as well.