Brazil to provide free sex changes
http://pageoneq.com/rssfeedstuff/index.php?id=14061
(Gold9472: There are so many jokes I can think of at other peoples' expense, but I will try to refrain.)
Posted on Fri, Aug. 17, 2007
(AP) -- Brazil's public-health system will begin providing free sex-change operations in compliance with a court order, the Health Ministry said Friday.
Ministry spokesman Edmilson Oliveira da Silva said the government would not appeal Wednesday's ruling by a panel of federal judges giving the government 30 days to offer the procedure or face fines of $5,000 a day.
'The health minister was prompted by the judges' decision,'' Silva said. ``But we already had a technical group studying the procedure with the idea of including it among the procedures that are covered.''
Federal prosecutors from Rio Grande do Sul state had argued that sexual-reassignment surgery is covered under a constitutional clause guaranteeing medical care as a basic right.
On Wednesday, the Fourth Regional Federal Court agreed, saying in its ruling that ``from the biomedical perspective, transsexuality can be described as a sexual identity disturbance where individuals need to change their sexual designation or face serious consequences in their lives, including intense suffering, mutilation and suicide.''
The Health Ministry said it would be up to local health officials to decide who qualifies for the surgery.
Gay activists applauded the decision.
''Transsexuals represent about 0.001 percent of the Brazilian population, but for this minority, sexual-reassignment surgery is a question of life and death,'' said Luiz Mott, founder of the Bahia Gay Group. ``It is unjust and cruel to argue that the health system should concern itself with other priorities.''
Brazil's public-health system offers free care to all Brazilians, including a variety of surgeries and AIDS medication. But long lines and poorly equipped facilities mean that those who can afford it usually choose to pay for private hospitals and clinics.
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