UPDATE: As this was being readied for posting, the Standing Committee on Private Bills and Private Members’ Public Bills voted to recommend that Bill 207 not move forward in its current form, meaning that the bill will not be proceeding to the floor. I have elected to post this anyway,
Continue readingTag: Medical
Montreal Simon: Are You Ready For Donald Trump The Cartoon President?
I know it's not a nice thing to say, but I have to admit that when I saw the White House doctor declare that Donald Trump had passed a cognitive test with flying colours, I was both stunned and disappointed. President Trump’s White House physician said Tuesday that the president received a perfect
Continue readingDented Blue Mercedes: Canada’s forthcoming “drop your pants” trans* blood donation policy
In addition to reducing the required wait time between having sex and donating blood to one year for gay men, Canadian Blood Services is poised to release its first-ever guidance on how CBS personnel should respond to potential trans* donors: if it’s in you to give, then drop your pants. While the policy has not yet been [&hellip
Continue readingDented Blue Mercedes: On conscience-based medical exemptions
The College of Physicians and Surgeons of Ontario is currently reviewing its Human Rights Code policy on conscience-based exemptions for medical professionals, and their effect on access to medical services. This review was sparked by a number of news reports of doctors in Ontario and Alberta refusing to prescribe birth
Continue readingDented Blue Mercedes: Nova Scotia Extends Health Care Coverage for Reassignment Surgery
After originally saying that it would not fund genital reassignment surgery, the Nova Scotia government has now said that it would extend health care funding coverage for the procedure. Health Minister Dave Wilson is quoted as saying, “This is the right thing to do.” I’ve written previously about why GRS
Continue readingDented Blue Mercedes: The non-operative word is not “sorry.”
I’m going to be writing about transition regrets and/or reversal of transition (sometimes from folks who remain trans-identified). Before I do, though, it seemed necessary to finish and put this article out there, as it lays the groundwork. I’d written about the decision to be non-operative previously, and had intended
Continue readingDented Blue Mercedes: Intersex Conditions within the Transsexual Brain / Why “Born This Way” Is Not the Point
A bit of point and counterpoint here, to provoke some thought. I thought this portion of a lecture given by Robert Sapolsky at Stanford University, given in 2010, would be worth posting for folks who found this blog recently, and/or aren’t familiar with some of the medical discoveriess since the
Continue readingDented Blue Mercedes: Trans Depathologization: the spark of change.
I watch a lot of news stories unfold, reading left-wing, centrist and right-wing media alike. In the course of a news story, issues ignite, blaze hotly and then smoulder into memory. After awhile, one develops some sense of when a campaign will spread like a prairie fire or when it
Continue readingArt Threat: Everyone Needs Their Heart – Vancouver’s Fugitives sing against Bill C-31
Adrian Glynn and Brendan McLeod aren’t known for writing music with a political slant. When he’s not writing gorgeous western-tinged melodic songs, Adrian joins Brendan in the Vancouver band, The Fugitives, a four-piece composed of musicians who double as slam poets, writers, actors and hilarious accordion players (ok, there’s only
Continue readingDented Blue Mercedes: One More Thing.
Oh, and, uh, here’s one more thing. This is for Albertan trans folks who filed human rights complaints following the delisting of GRS funding in 2009 and on into 2012, Who’ve been lobbying through up to (I think it’s) five tries to pass trans-inclusive human rights legislation at the federal
Continue readingDented Blue Mercedes: Alberta reinstates funding for Sex Reassignment Surgery
The Alberta Government has announced that it will be reinstating health care funding for sex reassignment surgery (often called gender reassignment surgery, and abbreviated as GRS by the province and its clinicians), effective June 15th. In the recent provincial election, Premier Alison Redford was returned to power by an electorate
Continue readingFalse positive: private profit in Canada's health care: Medical Journal Kills For-Profit Lab Debate
I was surprised when the Canadian Medical Association Journal (CMAJ) asked me to write an analysis piece on Canada’s medical laboratories. My book, False Positive, clearly lays out my position that for-profit labs have no place in our health care system, which is at odds with the close, and profitable,
Continue readingThe Scott Ross: How Abortion Is Making You Dumb
When people don’t talk about an issue because of fear, society becomes ignorant. Abortion is one such topic where ignorance abounds, and not just on one side of the debate either. The polarization of the issue has all but eliminated reasonable discussion, leaving most Canadians less than informed, and facing
Continue readingDented Blue Mercedes: Consent, the frequent far-right blind spot.
Concerned Women for America doesn’t grok consent. And they’re not alone. Anti-abortion campaigner Jill Stanek is joining them, along with several other right-wing figures in North America who have responded to the discussions surrounding the tactic of legally requiring women to undergo a transvaginal ultrasound before being able to access
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