Some in favor of the ban said that children are not ’emotionally or psychologically capable’ of making that type of life long decision.
Over the summer, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis banned healthcare providers from billing the state’s Medicaid program for gender affirming treatment including sex reassignment surgery, puberty blockers and hormone therapies.
DeSantis said, at that time, that doctors who “disfigure” young children “based on gender dysphoria” should be prosecuted,
“They don’t tell you what that is … They are actually giving very young girls double mastectomies, they want to castrate these young boys, both from the health and children wellbeing perspective, you don’t disfigure 10, 12, 13-year-old kids based on gender dysphoria.”
The move comes after the Florida Department of Health rejected the federal government’s guidance in April that endorsed puberty blockers and hormone therapy as methods of “affirming care” for minors with the states Surgeon General, Joseph Ladapo, saying that the federal guidance was a ‘political move’ that wasn’t backed by evidence,
“The federal government’s medical establishment releasing guidance failing at the most basic level of academic rigor shows that this was never about health care. It 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.”
The two medical boards will hold a final vote on Nov. 4th.
