A joint committee of Florida’s two medical boards voted on Friday to finalize a rule banning transgender health care for minors in the state.
The Florida Board of Medicine and the Florida Board of Osteopathic Medicine voted at a joint meeting to approve the rule, which would prohibit kids from receiving puberty blockers, hormone therapy treatment and irreversible sex reassignment surgeries. These treatments are used for children who are experiencing gender dysphoria, a condition where an individual does not feel like they identify with their biological sex. The rule will take effect after a weeks-long public comment period.
"Today's vote from the Boards of Medicine and Osteopathic Medicine will protect our children from irreversible surgeries and highly experimental treatments. I appreciate the integrity of the Boards for ruling in the best interest of children in Florida despite facing tremendous pressure to permit these unproven and risky treatments. Children deserve to learn how to navigate this world without harmful pressure, and Florida will continue to fight for kids to be kids," Florida Surgeon General Joseph Ladapo said in a statement.
Reportedly, the boards disagreed on an exception for youth enrolled in the U.S. Food and Drug Administration’s Institutional Review Board clinical research trials for transgender treatment.
Townhall covered late last month how the Florida Board of Medicine held a meeting about the rule where they listened to testimonies from the public about the impacts of transgender health care. Several of those who spoke are “de-transitioners,” people who started to transition and later reversed course.
Chloe Cole, a de-transitioner who is an activist, spoke about how she began her transition to live as a boy at age 12. She received a double mastectomy at 15. At 16, she realized she regretted her decision.
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“All the talk about mental health, self perception, pronouns and ideology leads me to the question, why is a mental health epidemic not being addressed with mental health treatment to get at the root causes for why female adolescents like me want to reject their bodies?” Cole said during her testimony.
Earlier this year, Florida health officials banned state medicaid insurance from covering “gender-affirming” treatments, which Townhall covered. Florida’s Department of Health previously came out against “gender-affirming” care for children, including letting minors “socially” transition, which includes going by a preferred name and pronouns and wearing clothes that align with the opposite gender.
In a statement, Ladapo said that the medical establishment’s push for “gender-affirming” care for children 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.”
Ladapo’s statement came shortly after the Biden administration released guidance on “Transgender Day of Visibility” that promoted irreversible transgender treatments for minors, claiming that it’s “neither child maltreatment or malpractice to do so.”
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