The governor of Florida, Ron DeSantis, has been defeated again by a federal judge who on Tuesday ordered the application of a law on gender-affirming care for transgender youth to be suspended, at the request of three families who challenge it.
The case began with a lawsuit filed against state medical boards and Surgeon General Joseph Ladapo by a group of Florida parents and their transgender children. They amended a lawsuit in May to seek an injunction on the bill Gov. Ron DeSantis signed into law that signed medical board restrictions into law.
According to the court order, three of the seven parents who challenged the move requested a court order that they could access care for their transgender children while the legal challenge continued. US District Judge Robert Hinkle said the parents were likely to win the case.
The plaintiffs asserted that the law, already in effect, violates the equal protection clause of the 14th Amendment because it prevents transgender minors from obtaining medically necessary care. The bans also denied the rights of parents to make medical decisions for their children.
Restrictions by the Florida Boards of Medicine and Osteopathic Medicine barred doctors from prescribing puberty blockers, hormone therapies and surgeries to treat new patients under the age of 18 for gender dysphoria, the angst felt with sex with which you are born. Those who were already taking the drugs were protected. They were allowed to continue with specialized care.
The bill that DeSantis signed, the SB 254prohibited the treatment of minors with gender dysphoria and required boards to establish emergency rules.
In a 44-page order, Hinkle said the “elephant in the room” must be taken into account and that “gender identity is real.” He further noted that the “tacit suggestion that lies just below the surface” that led to the bans being adopted is that transgender identity is not real, and criticized some of the state’s experts for endorsing that claim. idea.
“Any proponent of the challenged statute and rules should shut up: do you acknowledge that there are people with actual gender identities opposite to their natal sex, or not?” the judge wrote.
The judge also said that the statute and rules make “the same decision for everyone, without considering the individual circumstances of any patient,” rather than allowing those involved and their doctors to weigh the risks and benefits of medical treatment.
The groups that brought the case, including Southern Legal Counsel, GLBTQ Legal Advocates & Defenders, the National Center for Lesbian Rights and the Human Rights Campaign, issued a joint statement.
“Today’s ruling is a powerful affirmation of the humanity of transgender people, the effectiveness of well-established, science-based healthcare, and the rights of parents to make informed decisions about their children’s healthcare.” they said.
“The court recognized the profound harm that the state of Florida is doing by forcing parents to watch their children suffer instead of providing safe and effective care that allows them to thrive. We are incredibly relieved that these parents can continue to receive health care for their children as we proceed to challenge these bans until eventually seeing them repealed entirely,” they concluded.
