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A6 WORLD NEWS
Thursday 22 december 2022

Scotland’s move to simplify gender change stirs strong views

By JILL LAWLESS in dignity.”
Associated Press At a separate demonstra-
LONDON (AP) — A plan by tion by opponents, Rowl-
Scotland’s government to ing’s husband read out a
make it easier for people message from the author,
to change gender for legal in which she branded the
purposes has sparked acri- bill “the single biggest roll-
monious debate, with law- back of women’s rights in
makers arguing inside the our lifetimes.”
Edinburgh parliament and The bill is likely to pass,
rival groups of protesters though it is opposed by the
demonstrating outside. opposition Conservatives
A bill introduced by the and by some in the govern-
Scottish National Party-led ing SNP.
government would allow Joanna Cherry, an SNP
people to transition by self- lawmaker in the U.K. Parlia-
declaration, removing the ment, said the law “gives
need for a medical diagno- any man the right to self-
sis of gender dysphoria. The identify as a woman after
government says it a simple three months of living as
step that will improve the a woman … with minimal
lives of transgender people safeguards.”
by allowing them to get of- A member of the Scottish Family Party, left speaks with a supporter of the Gender Recognition The law will set Scotland
ficial documents that cor- Reform Bill (Scotland) during a protest outside the Scottish Parliament, ahead of a debate on the apart from the rest of the
respond with their gender bill, in Edinburgh, Tuesday, Dec. 20, 2022. United Kingdom, where a
identity. Associated Press gender dysphoria diagno-
Opponents, including “Har- scheduled, though multiple Legislators also defeated have birth certificates and sis is needed before individ-
ry Potter” author J.K. Rowl- amendments mean it may an amendment that would eventually their death cer- uals can have the gender
ing, claim the simplified be delayed. have set the minimum age tificates that match their designation on their iden-
procedure risks allowing Tuesday’s debate de- for gender transition at 18 gender identity. tity documents changed.
predatory men to gain ac- scended into acrimony, rather than 16. “There will be a day for Under the Scottish legisla-
cess to spaces intended for with spectators shout- Supporters of transgender everyone when we are is- tion, trans people would be
women, such as shelters for ing “Shame on you” after rights demonstrated out- sued a death certificate,” allowed to have the mark-
domestic abuse survivors. lawmakers defeated an side the parliament building said Douglas, who runs an ers revised if they have
The Scottish parliament is amendment that aimed in Edinburgh to urge law- LGBT+ group. “When that spent three months living
set to resume debating the to prevent convicted sex makers to support the bill. happens for me, I want with a different expressed
bill Wednesday after a ses- offenders from obtaining a One of them, Beth Douglas, that death certificate to be gender, six months for peo-
sion the previous day lasted gender recognition certifi- said the bill under debate in the right gender. I would ple ages 16 and 17. The cur-
until midnight. A final vote is cate. would allow people to like to rest in peace and die rent period is two years.q

WHO “very concerned” about reports

of severe COVID in China

sions, “in order to make a exit strategy from omicron,” cally increased its capac-
comprehensive risk assess- WHO emergencies chief ity to vaccinate people
ment of the situation on the Dr. Michael Ryan said. in recent weeks, it’s un-
ground.” Ryan said the explosive clear whether that will be
“WHO is very concerned surge of cases in China enough.
over the evolving situation was not exclusively due to To date, China has de-
in China with increasing the lifting of many of the clined to authorize West-
reports of severe disease,” country’s restrictive poli- ern-made messenger RNA
Tedros said. He added that cies and that it was impos- vaccines, which have
A patient is turned away from the emergency room due to full while COVID deaths have sible to stop transmission of proven to be more effec-
capacity at the Baoding No. 2 Central Hospital in Zhuozhou city dropped more than 90% omicron, the most highly tive than its locally made
in northern China’s Hebei province on Wednesday, Dec. 21, since their global peak, infectious variant yet seen shots. Beijing did agree to
2022. there were still too many of COVID-19. He said vac- allow a shipment of the
Associated Press
uncertainties about the vi- cination rates among peo- BioNTech-Pfizer vaccine to
GENEVA (AP) — The head bers of vulnerable people rus to conclude that the ple over age 60 in China be imported, for Germans
of the World Health Orga- getting infected. pandemic is over. lagged behind many other living in China.
nization said the agency is At a press briefing on Some scientists have countries and that the effi- “The question remains
“very concerned” about Wednesday, WHO Direc- warned that the un- cacy of the Chinese-made whether or not enough
rising reports of severe coro- tor-General Tedros Adha- checked spread of CO- vaccines was about 50%. vaccination can be done
navirus disease across Chi- nom Ghebreyesus said the VID-19 in China could spur “That’s just not adequate in the coming week or
na after the country largely U.N. agency needs more the emergence of new protection in a population two weeks that will actu-
abandoned its “zero CO- information on COVID-19 variants, which might un- as large as China, with so ally blunt the impact of the
VID” policy, warning that severity in China, particu- ravel progress made glob- many vulnerable people,” second wave and the bur-
its lagging vaccination rate larly regarding hospital and ally to contain the pan- Ryan said. He added that den on the health system,”
could result in large num- intensive care unit admis- demic. “Vaccination is the while China has dramati- Ryan said.q