Florida takes next step to ban gender-affirming treatments for kids

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. — A joint-committee of the state’s two medical boards on Friday took another step toward banning gender-affirming care for transgender kids in Florida.

Members from the Florida Board of Medicine and the state Board of Osteopathic Medicine approved rulemaking language that would ban children from taking hormones or undergoing surgery to treat gender dysphoria.

Both boards are scheduled to meet on Nov. 4, where they will vote to finalize the rule.

The proposed language, which aims to establish the state’s standard of care for gender dysphoria treatment, also includes an exemption for children who are enrolled in clinical studies associated with the treatment. There's also a provision that would exempt children already undergoing treatment when the rule takes effect.

Gender dysphoria refers to the feelings of discomfort or distress some transgender people experience when their bodies don’t align with their gender.

The American Academy of Pediatrics and the American Medical Association support gender-affirming care for adults and adolescents. Medical experts also have said gender-affirming care for children rarely, if ever, includes surgery. Instead, doctors are more likely to recommend counseling, social transitioning and hormone replacement therapy.

The boards on Friday decided on the rulemaking language after a five-hour meeting in Orlando, which included testimony from six experts on gender-affirming care. The joint-panel also heard from more than a dozen public speakers, mostly from people who supported the ban.

Board of Medicine member Patrick Hunter said during the meeting that he could not find evidence of any sufficient studies on children who undergo gender-affirming treatments such as puberty-blocking drugs and surgery.

“Those studies don’t exist,” Hunter said. “We don’t have high quality evidence based on that.”

Columbia University’s Department of Psychiatry, however, in March cited several studies that detail how gender affirming care improves the overall health and well-being of transgender children.

Hunter also brought up new guidance released on Oct. 20 by National Health Service England, the publicly-funded health care system in England, about treating kids for gender dysphoria that limited the agency to only cover the costs of puberty blockers for patients who are enrolled in clinical trials. The guidance, which serves one of the largest single-payer health care systems in the world, places a much heavier emphasis on psychological treatments.

Both boards had each agreed in August to begin the rulemaking process after the release of guidance from the Florida Department of Health. The guidance claimed there is not enough research and evidence to prove that the care is safe.

The rulemaking is the latest step taken by the DeSantis administration to tighten regulatory controls over gender-affirming care. Florida’s Medicaid regulator approved rules in August that block state-subsidized health care from paying for treatments of transgender people.

That rule led a coalition of transgender-rights groups to file a lawsuit, which is gearing up for a trial later this year.

Rachel Foster was one of several people who told the committee they regretted taking puberty blockers and going through surgeries when they were teens. Foster began to have renal failure by age 26.

“No one child or adult should go through the constant health battles that I’ve had to go through,” Foster said. “I’ve dealt with pain, trauma and the same mental issues I faced before.”