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.”
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.