human rights
Bill prevents public payment
for conversion therapy
College is committed to ensuring that all patients
– regardless of their sexual orientation or gender identity –
are treated equitably, ethically and with respect
A
Private Member’s Bill has been
passed that seeks to stop the practise of conversion therapy, where
the intent is to change a person’s
sexual orientation or gender identity. The Bill
received considerable media attention and
the support of MPPs from all three political parties. The Bill was introduced by NDP
MPP Cheri DiNovo.
The Affirming Sexual Orientation and Gender
Identity Act, 2015, prevents public payment
for conversion therapy offered by a regulated
health-care professional. It also bans the practice for patients under 18, making it an offence
for health professionals to engage in it.
Ontario’s Minister of Health, Dr. Eric
Hoskins, and the Premier, Kathleen Wynne,
have spoken against the practice of conversion
therapy.
In April, Minister Hoskins sent a letter to
the College and the colleges of psychologists,
psychotherapists, and nurses asking each
college to “identify how best to ensure that
conversion therapy is not a practice that is
engaged in by members of your professions.”
In response, the College President Dr.
Carol Leet assured the Minister that the
College has the necessary tools to investigate and address complaints or reports we
may receive about physicians engaging in
conversion therapy. Dr. Leet affirmed that
the College is committed to ensuring that
patients receive evidence-based care and
that all patients – regardless of their sexual
orientation or gender identity – are treated
Cheri DiNovo, NDP MPP
equitably, ethically and with respect.
Dr. Leet noted that any service that treats
particular sexual orientations or gender
identities as pathologies to be “cured” is outside the bounds of acceptable professional
practice.
The College’s recently updated policy, Professional Obligations and Human Rights
states that physicians must strive to create and
foster an environment in which the rights, autonomy, dignity and diversity of all patients,
or those seeking to become patients, are
respected. The policy notes that the Ontario
Human Rights Code protects the right of all
Ontarians to receive equal treatment without
discrimination on the grounds of both sexual
orientation and gender identity.
Issue 2, 2015 Dialogue
41