Ontario to cover sex-change surgery

[auntAgonist]

Ontario to cover sex-change surgery
TheRecord.com - CanadaWorld
The Canadian Press

http://news.therecord.com/printArticle/351328

TORONTO

Ontario will soon join other provinces in providing coverage for sex-change surgery under the province's health insurance plan, Health Minister George Smitherman confirmed yesterday.

Smitherman said the details have not been finalized, but Ontario will start paying for sexual reassignment surgery for the first time in 10 years, providing coverage for the limited number of people who qualify for the procedure.

"(It would) probably affect between eight and 10 people in Ontario, who after having very, very sustained psychological evaluations would be deemed by the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health as appropriate candidates to receive a surgical intervention,'' Smitherman said.

Ontario's previous Conservative government cancelled coverage of sex-change operations in 1998, leaving some people stranded midway through the process.

The Ontario Human Rights Commission ruled in 2006 that the province should pay the bill for three people whose procedures were interrupted by the cancellation, but it did not compel the province to reinstate coverage of the operations.

The Progressive Conservatives declined to comment on the issue, saying they wanted to wait and hear more details from the government.

[Buck Laser]

1. Sounds reasonable...

Certainly not elective surgery like nose jobs and face lifts.

[Clintonista2]

2. I love Ontario. It's got to be the most liberal place in the world.

Even the conservative party of Ontario is far to the left of the U.S Democratic party.