Manitoba Rejects Sex Reassignment Surgery Coverage

Renee at Womanist Musings delivers some distressing news:

It was with much dismay that I learned a while ago that Alberta had delisted sex reassignment surgery to save 700,000 in a multi billion dollar budget. It seems that when finances become an issue the government has no problem declaring the needs of the trans community to be optional.

Manitoba has decided to follow Alberta's lead and reject funding for SRS surgery. Unlike Albert, Manitoba is not looking at a deficit budget in fact the government predicts a $48 million surplus this time next year. If the surgeries were to be covered the "NDP estimate that 15 to 20 trans people a year would take advantage of the policy, at a cost to taxpayers of $15,000 to $60,000 per case."

The reason that SRS is not funded is because they have categorized it as cosmetic.

Read the whole thing here.