LGBTQ groups denounce Florida AHCA plan to limit transgender care

trans protest
'AHCA’s actions ... are morally and legally wrong, as well as medically and scientifically unsound.'

LGBTQ and health groups have denounced a new rule by Florida health officials set to take effect later this month to restrict Medicaid insurance coverage for gender dysphoria treatments for transgender people.

The Florida Agency for Health Care Administration filed the new rule this month, and it is set to take effect Aug. 21, according to online records.

The state agency previously released a report stating that puberty blockers, cross-sex hormones and sex reassignment surgery have not been proven safe or effective in treating gender dysphoria. Tom Wallace, the state’s deputy director of Medicaid, signed off on the report in June.

Lambda Legal, Southern Legal Counsel, Florida Health Justice Project and National Health Law Program issued a statement Thursday saying the AHCA is ignoring thousands of public comments and expert testimony by finalizing a discriminatory and medically unsound rule.

“AHCA’s actions, at the behest of Governor (Ron) DeSantis and his political appointees, are morally and legally wrong, as well as medically and scientifically unsound,” a joint statement from the groups said. “This rule represents a dangerous escalation in Governor DeSantis’s political zeal to persecute LGBTQ+ people in Florida, and particularly transgender youth.”

Transgender medical treatment for children and teens is increasingly under attack in many states where it has been labeled a form of child abuse and where Medicaid coverage is barred. Critics point to the irreversible nature of many elements of gender transition treatment.

Many doctors and mental health specialists argue that medical treatment for transgender children is safe and beneficial and can improve their well-being, although rigorous long-term research on benefits and risks is lacking. Federal guidelines say gender-affirming care is crucial to the health and well-being of transgender and nonbinary children.

Last year, the American Medical Association issued a letter urging governors to block any legislation prohibiting the treatment, calling such action “a dangerous intrusion into the practice of medicine.”

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Republished with permission of the Associated Press.

Associated Press


6 comments

  • Earl Pitts American

    August 12, 2022 at 4:56 pm

    *
    *
    *
    Happy Friday America,
    Not too many years back America was united in opposition to the genital mutilation going on as a routine practice in the Muslem Nations of the world. Remember that? Oh – clutch your pearls – Oh the outrage and rightous indignation.
    I liked y’all a lot better back in those days.
    Freaks.
    Thank You America,
    Earl Pitts American

    • Still are

      August 16, 2022 at 11:47 pm

      A few years years back you right wingers were trying not to die from COVID.

      Oh you still are never mind lol

  • Charlotte Greenbarg

    August 13, 2022 at 12:52 pm

    Taxpayers should not have to pay for elective surgery. No matter what kind.

  • YYep

    August 13, 2022 at 9:06 pm

    I don’t know some want boobies because they’re small …
    some people want nose Jobs because they are too long

  • Just a comment

    August 15, 2022 at 10:47 am

    And who in god’s name excepts Medicaid

    • That’s who

      August 16, 2022 at 11:47 pm

      Republicans because they have no money.

Comments are closed.


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