A petition was recently presented to the House of Assembly asking that the provincial government remove what are considered to be restrictive regulations set for those seeking gender-affirming chest surgery.
In November of 2019, the province announced that transgender persons would be able to access chest surgeries through MCP. However, NDP MHA for St. John’s Centre, Jim Dinn says the province “quietly imposed” what he calls “punitive and restrictive regulations” for trans women.
Trans women must be taking hormone replacement drugs for 18 months, even though the international standard is 12.
Dinn says chest surgery is not optional for those who need it. He says the World Standard on Transgender Health Care states that the medical procedures are not cosmetic, elective or for the mere convenience of the patient, but are understood to be medically necessary.
