The Florida Board of Medicine is scheduled to consider a proposal this week from the state's Department of Health to block physicians from providing “gender-affirming” treatment to children who identify as “transgender.”
“Gender-affirming” treatments include hormone therapy, puberty blockers and sex reassignment surgery. The proposal from Gov. Ron DeSantis’ (R) administration would require adults seeking “gender affirming” care to sign a consent form and wait 24 hours before beginning treatment, CBS News reported.
The petition, which is on the agenda for a Board of Medicine meeting in Broward County, proposes what is known as a "standard of care" that would prohibit patients under age 18 from receiving sex-reassignment surgery and puberty-blocking, hormone and hormone "antagonist" treatments. It also would require that older patients sign a consent form and then wait 24 hours before starting such treatments.
Signed by Department of Health General Counsel John Wilson, the petition pointed to what it said was a "lack of quality evidence and certainly no conclusive research to support the medical transition of children to the opposite gender as a treatment for gender dysphoria."
"Children do not possess the cognitive or emotional maturity to comprehend the consequences of these invasive and irreversible procedures," the petition said.
The Board of Medicine plans to consider the proposal in a meeting on Friday. Florida’s Department of Health previously came out against “gender-affirming” care for children, including letting minors “socially” transition.
“Only a minority of children who are diagnosed with gender dysphoria remain gender dysphoric as adults,” the proposal states. “There is a lack of quality evidence and certainly no conclusive research to support the medical transition of children to the opposite gender as a treatment for gender dysphoria.”
Democrat State Rep. Anna Eskamani wrote on Twitter that the proposal is “transphobic.”
It’s Sunday morning and the State of FL DOH has released their disgusting proposed transphobic rule that would BAN access to gender affirming care for those under the age of 18 & create restrictions for adults too. pic.twitter.com/1oW2ImTR4n
— Rep. Anna V. Eskamani ?? (@AnnaForFlorida) July 31, 2022
Townhall covered on “Transgender Day of Visibility” in March how the Biden administration is promoting “gender-affirming” care for children. The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services’ Office of Population Affairs released guidance claiming that “gender-affirming care is crucial to overall health and well-being” for children and adolescents. According to the OPA, “gender-affirming care” allows minors to focus on “social transitions” and boosts their confidence while “navigating the healthcare system.”
On the same day, the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration's National Child Traumatic Stress Network, another branch of the HHS, released a parallel document called “Gender-Affirming Care Is Trauma-Informed Care.”
“Providing gender-affirming care is neither child maltreatment nor malpractice,” the NCTSN document states. "It may include evidence-based interventions such as puberty blockers and gender-affirming hormones." It added that “gender-affirming care should not be used to deny care or separate families working to make the best decisions for the children’s well-being.”
The NCTSN document seemingly alludes to how a Texas judge halted investigations launched by Republican Gov. Greg Abbott into the parents of transgender minors for child abuse, which Townhall covered.
Last month, a 17-year-old girl who is detransitioning spoke out in support of a Florida policy that would prohibit Medicaid funds from covering “medical interventions” for those experiencing gender dysphoria.
The young woman, Chloe Cole, spoke at a public hearing about the policy. She explained how she decided she was transgender at age 12 and began transitioning. She underwent a double mastectomy at 15.
“I really didn’t understand all of the ramifications of any of the medical decisions that I was making,” Cole said during the hearing. “I was unknowingly physically cutting off my true self from my body, irreversibly and painfully.”
Cole told Fox News Digital that parents should not allow their children to transition.
"If you are considering transitioning, please wait until you are a fully developed adult," Cole told Fox. "Transitioning can damage your body and mind in ways that we may not fully understand."