FL Bans Gender-Affirming Care For Transgender Youth: Report

FLORIDA — Two Florida medical boards gave final approval to bans on gender-affirming care for transgender youth in the Sunshine State.

The Florida Board of Medicine and the Florida Board of Osteopathic Medicine, during their joint meeting Friday in Orlando, each approved bans of some treatments of gender dysphoria for minors, including puberty blockers, hormone therapy and gender-affirming surgery.

The ruling would impact only new patients seeking these treatments, the New York Times reported. With the new bans in place, new patients now need to wait until they turn 18 to receive these types of care. Children already receiving puberty blockers or hormones would continue to get them, though.

The boards are also calling for a larger emphasis on behavioral therapy as treatment for children with gender dysphoria.

The Florida Board of Osteopathic Medicine, separately, voted to allow an exemption for trans youth who are enrolled in an approved research study, Politico reported. The two boards are governed under different rules.

The boards’ bans go against recommendations made by several professional medical groups, including the American Academy of Pediatrics, the Endocrine Society and the American Medical Association, which consider these treatments safe for minors, reports said.

The AMA event sent letters to governors, urging them to block any proposed legislation in their states that could ban such treatments for minors, last year, according to CBS News. The association called any ban on these types of care for trans youth “a dangerous intrusion into the practice of medicine.”

In Florida, the bans were sought by the state’s Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis and Surgeon General Joseph Ladapo, according to Graham Media Group.

In July, the Florida Department of Health, under Ladapo’s leadership, filed a petition to establish a rule-making process for the treatment of gender dysphoria and proposed prohibiting doctors from performing sex reassignment surgeries on trans youth or prescribing them hormones or puberty blockers.

DeSantis, who is seeking re-election Tuesday, has also criticized these treatments for minors while on the campaign trail, reports said.

Earlier this year, Florida health officials also banned state Medicaid insurance coverage for the treatment of gender dysphoria for all ages.

“Today, the Boards of Medicine (and) Osteo Medicine voted to protect our children from irreversible surgeries (and) highly experimental treatments. I appreciate their integrity for ruling in the best interest of (Florida) children despite facing tremendous pressure to permit these risky (and) unproven treatments," Ladapo tweeted on Friday. “Children deserve to learn how to navigate this world without harmful pressure. Florida will continue to fight for kids to be kids.”

Equality Florida, a nonprofit organization that advocates for the state’s LGBTQ+ community, also tweeted about the ban following the boards’ votes.

“With young lives on the line, another state agency has placed the political ambitions of DeSantis over its duty to protect Floridians. These rules, as written, put transgender youth at higher risk of depression, anxiety and suicidality,” Equality Florida tweeted. “Those are the facts purposely ignored by Boards of Medicine & Osteopathy stacked with DeSantis political appointees who have put their toxic politics over people’s health and wellbeing. Transgender Floridians exist. They are part of our community.”