Judge finds that current legislation violates rights
News — MONTREAL, May 20, 2011 – University of Montreal experts are available to comment to journalists about Thursday’s decision by the Supreme Court of British Columbia that will effectively end anonymity for sperm donors.
According to bioethicist Dr. Vardit Ravitsky of the Faculty of Medicine:By putting the well-being of children first and acknowledging the rights of donor-conceived individuals to know the identity of their donors, British Columbia is joining a respectable and growing list of jurisdictions that have banned donor anonymity in recent years. But unless they are told the truth about the circumstances of their conception by their parents, children will not be able to access to information that can be crucial for their health and psychological well-being.
Dr. Alain Roy of the Faculty of Law commented:
Following expert testimony, the court has assimilated the identity needs of children who were conceived through Assisted Reproductive Technologies (ART) with those who were adopted, in terms of both physical and psychological issues. Unlike adopted children who, in British Columbia, may obtain the identity of their original parents via various means, children who were conceived through ART cannot address their identity needs, as the law has not established any legal framework that would have required the archiving of medical files or determined accessibility to the names and other details of gamete donors. The court considers this differentiation to be discriminatory according to article 15 of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms, and has given legislators 15 months to adjust the law as per the requirements of the Charter. All comparison with Quebec law must be undertaken with a certain amount of discretion, as the rules surrounding the accessibility of adoption files are not the same in Quebec.
Media are invited to contact the experts directly for further information or to set up an interview
Vardit Ravitsky, PhD
Assistant Professor, Bioethics Programs, Faculty of Medicine, University of Montreal
Alain Roi, PhD
Tenured Professor, Faculty of Law, University of Montreal
Dr. Roy’s original quote in French:Sur la base de témoignages d’experts, le tribunal assimile le besoin identitaire que peuvent entretenir les enfants issus de procréation médicalement assistée (PMA) à celui des enfants adoptés, tant sur le plan physique que psychologique. Contrairement aux enfants adoptés qui, en Colombie Britannique, peuvent selon différentes modalités obtenir la divulgation de l’identité de leurs parents d’origine, les enfants issus d’une PMA ne peuvent quant à eux satisfaire leur besoin identitaire, la loi n’établissant aucun cadre législatif imposant la conservation des dossiers médicaux et balisant l’accessibilité aux renseignements nominatifs et non nominatifs relatifs au donneur de gamètes. Le tribunal considère cette différence comme étant discriminatoire au sens de l’article 15 de la Charte canadienne des droits et libertés et accorde au législateur un délai de 15 mois pour ajuster sa loi conformément aux prescriptions de la Charte. Cela dit, toute comparaison avec le droit québécois doit se faire avec circonspection, les règles gouvernant l’accessibilité aux dossiers d’adoption n’étant pas les mêmes au Québec.
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