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“Birth alerts,” or the practice of flagging an expectant parent by social workers as a risk to their newborn, is still reportedly being used despite announcements by government lawyers deeming these notifications “illegal and unconstitutional.”
According to APT News, the practice has been banned in several Canadian provinces due to concerns about its legality, effectiveness, and breach of privacy rights. However, birth alerts are still reportedly in use in Newfoundland and Labrador, Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, Saskatchewan, and Quebec
Legal experts say that the continued use of the practice may result in class action lawsuits. Indeed, an investigation by IndigiNews reportedly uncovered a memo circulated by the B.C. Attorney General calling the practice “illegal and unconstitutional.”
The Birth Alert Practice
According to IndigiNews, a “birth alert” or “hospital alert” is issued by a social worker who thinks that a newborn may be at risk from their parents. The alert is issued to hospital staff – without the parent’s consent. In many cases, the alert reportedly results in the removal of the child from their mothers.
“Birth alerts are racist and discriminatory and are a gross violation of the rights of the child, the mother, and the community,” concluded a report by the National Inquiry into Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women.
Advocates Say Birth Alerts Discriminate
Indigenous leaders and advocates say that the practice discriminates against Indigenous people. A birth alert is reportedly much more likely to be issued for an Indigenous family, perpetuating the stereotype that Indigenous mothers cannot care for their children.
According to advocates who talked to the Toronto Star, the use of birth alerts has led to fewer services being offered and more children being funneled into foster care.
“It has required intense advocacy to get the health care systems to end this unlawful practice. In the meantime, the unlawful and harmful device has broken up families, created barriers in health care, and disrupted proper positive relationships supporting parents and children,” law professor and judge Mary Ellen Turpel-Lafond told IndigiNews.
Continued Use of Practice May Spark Class Action Lawsuit
Legal experts say that there are multiple ways the practice could be challenged in court. First, there is ample evidence that the alerts have been used in a discriminatory manner, a lawyer told Toronto Star reporters.
Additionally, the practice hinges on informing hospital staff without the consent of the person being reported – a grave breach of privacy laws, according to a professor of social work at McGill University who also told the Toronto Star that victims of this practice should be encouraged to seek compensation.
The path forward for those who have been subjected to illegal birth alerts may be a class action lawsuit.
Top Class Actions is committed to righting consumer wrongs by providing an easy way for those who feel they were treated unfairly or unjustly to start a class action lawsuit. Lawyers will review your submission and if you have a case, you’ll be contacted for a free legal consultation.
“One of the great advantages to a class action is you need one person who’s going to be the representative plaintiff, and that person is going to take the lead for everyone. The other class members don’t have to be involved in the lawsuit with the same level of intimacy,” one lawyer told the Toronto Star.
“They might, down the track, have to participate in order to tell their stories to claim compensation if you’re successful, but they’re not the ones who would get examined by the government lawyers.”
What do you think about birth alerts? Has one ever been issued against you or a loved one? Tell us your story in the comment section below!
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3 thoughts on‘Illegal and Unconstitutional’ Birth Alerts May Lead To Class Action Lawsuit
I was the victim of an illegal birth alert the very day I was going to be induced and did not go through with the induction that day which was happening because I was experiencing hypertension and severe edema. How do I participate? My children are Indigenous.
Please admit me to join this class action my 2 youngest were apprehended at birth I didn’t even know if I had a boy or a girl
Until the next day and I was not allowed to breast feed him
I have just found out that my granddaughters who are currently 9 and 8 years old have a birth alert from Alberta. How can a child have a birth alert? Their mother was indigenous and their father my son is Caucasian. How do I get this fully removed, I am considering legal action against CAS in Alberta but we all live in Ontario now.