Florida just became the eighth state to restrict gender-affirming care to minors, and parents of transgender youths are planning to challenge the Board of Medicine's decision in court.
Florida joins seven others in America in prohibiting gender transition-related medical care for minors, a rule enacted by the state's Board of Medicine Thursday.
Effective yesterday, minors are barred from starting puberty blockers or hormone therapy, according to the ruling, "Standards of Practice for the Treatment of Gender Dysphoria in Minors."
However, minors who have been on these gender-affirming care before the new rule took effect can continue with the treatments. Yet, the law emphasized that it restricts ALL minors from receiving these medical care and operations.
"This board is not against research; it is not against care for transgender children. What the board has sought to do is to protect our children from therapies that have been shown to create irreversible harm," pediatric anesthesiologist and Board of Medicine member Dr. Hector Vila expressed.
Every parent's worst nightmare
Further, Vila emphasized that the board has done their homework regarding the serious and sensitive topic. They have "reviewed hundreds of studies," talked to experts and doctors, and listened to testimonies from both sides of the issue. They have concluded that the "overwhelming data" does not agree and support the utilization of puberty blockers and hormone therapy, he declared in response to critics claiming that there were members of the board who expressed insufficiency of research to justify the potential side effects of these gender-affirming treatments.
Parents of transgender youth, however, are not amenable.
A group of parents, represented by four national advocacy groups - Southern Legal Counsel, GLBTQ Legal Advocates & Defenders, the National Center for Lesbian Rights, and the Human Rights Campaign, are ready to challenge the new rule in court, NBC News reported.
One of the plaintiffs, who was named Jane Doe in a news release, expressed that she fears for her 11-year-old trans daughter's physical and mental health when she is denied the treatment that she needs when she reaches puberty. The mother continued that the new rule could "completely disrupt her life."
Another plaintiff is a Florida woman who joins the suit to fight for her and her 14-year-old son's rights. She stressed that the rule takes away from parents the right to ensure that their kids receive "appropriate, evidence-based medical care."
She shared that her son has high hopes of having testosterone in the future and seeing himself "in his own body," but that has been robbed away from him by the state's "discriminatory rule." She further stated that this is "every parents' worst nightmare."
Supporters argue that kids may regret the treatments later
The Board of Medicine and the Board of Osteopathic Medicine, who will be enacting the same rule coming this March 28, did not respond to the request for comment about the plan for a lawsuit.
Under the new rule, healthcare practitioners violating the ruling can be reported to the government and face minor consequences such as fines or suspensions to major ones like revocation of their professional licenses.
Other states having the same rule against gender-affirming treatments are Alabama, Arizona, Arkansas, South Dakota, Tennessee, Utah, and Mississippi, according to ABC News.
The supporters' argument for the new rule comes from the potential regret that transitioning minors will experience later in their lives.
Jim Lopresti, the founder of SunServe, a mental health service agency that treats LGBTQ youths, emphasized that for two decades of working with trans youth, there is only one person who went through regret as an adult. The reason behind the regret was that the adult was not given sufficient support throughout the treatment.
Related article: Finland Pediatric Expert Calls out American Doctors for Using Fear of Kid's Suicide to Convince Parents of Gender-Affirming Treatments
