Florida Judge Pauses DeSantis’ Ban on Gender-Affirming Care

What's the story?

• Florida's Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis signed a bill banning gender-affirming care for minors last month. Earlier this week, a Tallahassee-based federal judge placed a temporary block on that bill.  
• U.S. District Judge Robert Hinkle blocked the state from applying the ban to three minors whose parents are part of an ongoing lawsuit against Florida. The parents said their children would "suffer irreparable harm" if they could not access hormones and other gender-affirming treatments.
• Hinkle released a 44-page ruling, calling the decision to ban hormone treatments a political decision, not a "legitimate state interest" or a concrete medical choice. He said:

"Nothing could have motivated this remarkable intrusion into parental prerogatives other than opposition to transgender status itself."

• The ruling does not apply to other minors in the state but indicates that future legal challenges could block the ban and reinstate care for transgender Florida residents. 

The bill

• Gov. DeSantis' bill bans a variety of gender-affirming treatments for trans youth and creates obstacles for trans adults seeking care. The bill, Senate Bill 254, requires trans adults to receive a written consent form from the Board of Medicine and Board of Osteopathic Medicine — two oversight boards with DeSantis-appointed members. 
• The law also granted the state court jurisdiction in child custody battles over trans minors when a parent opposes treatment being pursued by an out-of-state parent.
• In addition to the restrictions on gender-affirming care, the Florida government placed bans on drag shows, restraints on discussing preferred pronouns in schools, and is forcing people to use the bathroom that correlates to their sex assigned at birth.

What're they saying?

• Jeremy Redfern, a spokesperson for DeSantis, said the injunction "is extremely limited in scope" as it only applies to three children. Redfern also repeated some of DeSantis' past criticisms of gender-affirming treatments, saying they are "not based on science" and "irreversible." He continued:

"We obviously disagree with the judge's ruling. We will continue fighting against the rogue element in the medical establishment that push ideology over evidence and protect against mutilating our kids."

• One of the unidentified plaintiffs, a parent of a child seeking gender-affirming care, said:

"I'm sure most any parent can imagine the sense of powerlessness that comes from being unable to do something as basic as get medical care for your child. Today my entire family is breathing a huge sigh of relief…"

• The American Academy of Pediatrics and the American Medical Association continue to support gender-affirming care for adults and adolescents. Medical experts added that treatment for children usually includes mental health support and rarely involves surgery.
• In response to Senate Bill 254 itself, legislative director and senior policy counsel at ACLU, Kara Gross, said:

"Parents, not politicians, know what is best for their own children. Parents should be free to access the healthcare they need for their children in consultation with their medical providers and without governmental interference. This bill takes away the right of parents to provide life-saving best, practice medical care to their own children."

Do you support overturning DeSantis' ban on gender-affirming care for minors?

-Jamie Epstein

(Photo credit: Flickr/Oriel Ashcroft)