Florida to ban transgender health care treatments for minors
Transgender children in Florida will be barred from receiving hormones or undergoing surgeries to treat gender dysphoria, under a rule approved by state medical officials at the urging of Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis
TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (AP) — Transgender children in Florida will be barred from receiving hormones or undergoing surgeries to treat gender dysphoria under a rule approved Friday by state medical officials at the urging of Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis.
The Florida Board of Medicine and the state Board of Osteopathic Medicine voted at a joint meeting in Lake Buena Vista to finalize rules governing gender affirming health care for minors. The rule is set to take effect after a weekslong public input period.
The ban comes as DeSantis and Republicans in other states move to limit access to the treatments for minors, often characterizing them as medically unproven and potentially dangerous in the long term, as another political battle against liberal ideologies.
Many doctors, mental health specialists and medical groups have argued that treatments for transgender youth are safe and beneficial, though rigorous long-term research is lacking. Federal health officials have described the gender-affirming care as crucial to the health and well-being of transgender children and adolescents.
