(Left) (Illustration - Rido/Shutterstock); (Right) Florida Governor Ron DeSantis at a Get Out The Vote Rally on Oct. 29, 2022 in Hauppauge, N.Y. David Dee Delgado/Getty Images
Florida health officials on Friday, Nov. 4 voted to forbid doctors from providing “gender-affirming care” to minors in the state.
Meeting in Orlando, the Florida Board of Medicine and state Board of Osteopathic Medicine voted 6-3, with five members not present, to ban the prescribing of puberty blockers or hormones and performing of sex-reassignment surgery for children. Minors already receiving the drugs may continue treatment.
The act does allow non-surgical treatments for gender dysphoria in minors to continue under the auspices of the Institutional Review Board, though such clinical trials must include long-term longitudinal psychological assessments.
Florida Surgeon General Joseph A. Ladapo said on Friday: “Today, the Boards of Medicine & Osteo Medicine voted to protect our children from irreversible surgeries & highly experimental treatments. I appreciate their integrity for ruling in the best interest of FL children despite facing tremendous pressure to permit these risky & unproven treatments. Children deserve to learn how to navigate this world without harmful pressure. Florida will continue to fight for kids to be kids.”
Florida Board of Medicine inside Department of Health. Screenshot/Google Maps
While Florida isn’t the first state to seek to ban this type of treatment, it is the first state to do so through the state’s medical board, under the executive branch. Florida also joins at least nine other states prohibiting Medicaid coverage for gender transition treatment.
Critics of the decision have expressed that transition treatments can be effective and potentially life-saving. The American Medical Association said that it “opposes the dangerous intrusion of government into the practice of medicine and the criminalization of health care decision-making,“ adding that gender-affirming care is ”medically necessary, evidence-based care that improves the physical and mental health of transgender and gender-diverse people.”
The move comes in response to a letter sent by President Joe Biden’s Justice Department to all state attorneys general late March, warning that they could be violating civil rights laws should they keep minors from receiving “gender-affirming care.” Biden released a video message reinforcing this point.
In April, Florida Department of Health issued guidance rejecting the federal government’s endorsement of using puberty blockers and “partially-reversible” hormone therapy on minors.
“They are actually giving very young girls double mastectomies, they want to castrate these young boys,” Governor Ron DeSantis said over the summer. “You don’t disfigure 10, 12, and 13-year-old kids based on gender dysphoria. 80% of it resolves anyway by the time they get older.”
On Friday, Sept. 29, the state boards of medicine held a workshop to discuss new statewide rules and hear public testimony, including that of Chloe Cole, who underwent a double mastectomy at the age of 15. Cole said, “The overall picture of my life just went completely unaddressed.”
Florida Surgeon General Ladapo said the federal government’s guidance failed to meet the “most basic level of academic rigor” and was “about injecting political ideology into the health of our children. Children experiencing gender dysphoria should be supported by family and seek counseling, not pushed into an irreversible decision before they reach 18.”
Recently, a clinic offering gender transition services in the UK was closed down after the NHS England determined these were “not a safe or viable long-term option.” Last year, the UK’s Health Advisory Board determined that there is “very low” evidence that puberty blocking for children with gender dysphoria has any benefits.
Michael Wing
Editor and Writer
Michael Wing is a writer and editor based in Calgary, Canada, where he was born and educated in the arts. He writes mainly on culture, human interest, and trending news.
