An Alberta legislature member says the province has a duty to step in to deal with “bad parents,” and he compares transgender surgery to the castration of livestock.

United Conservative backbencher Shane Getson, MLA for Lac Ste. Anne-Parkland, made the comment in chamber debate over a bill that uses the Charter’s notwithstanding clause to protect a trio of transgender laws from court challenge.

One law bans gender reassignment surgery for those under 18 and prohibits drug therapies for gender reassignment for anyone under 16.

LGBTQ+ advocates say the law is an intolerable infringement on the rights of patients, and doctors say it’s a dangerous political intervention in what should be clinical decision-making.

Getson says using the notwithstanding clause to override rights in this case

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