Gov. DeSantis praises appellate court ruling allowing state to enforce ban on trans care for minors

Gov. Ron DeSantis is trumpeting a recent appellate court ruling allowing Florida to enforce a law to limit access to transgender care, including a ban for minors.

Appearing at a press conference in Crystal River, DeSantis said it’s “wrong” to allow minors to access gender-affirming health care.

“It is wrong to do this. You don’t take some 14-year-old and pump them with hormone blockers and try to change their sex with an operation. It’s wrong,” DeSantis said when asked about the 2-1 decision issued this week by the 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Atlanta.

“It’s not based on sound science and in fact most of these countries in Europe that are more liberal than the U.S., like Sweden, have pulled the plug on this. The United Kingdom pulled the plug on this. So what we did is we protected young people.” 

The Governor also said the “secret” is that people are profiting from providing the care.

“There’s a lot of people that make money on these surgeries, that’s why it’s going on,” he said.

A federal appeals court Monday cleared the way for Florida to enforce the 2023 law that limits access to gender-affirming care for adults and bans it for minors. U.S. District Judge Robert Hinkle had blocked the law in June.

The law requires transgender adults to be cared for by physicians and not advanced registered nurses or other qualified medical practitioners. The law also requires adults who want treatment to sign consent forms. It bans the use of telehealth for providing the care, requiring patients to go to physician offices for prescription refills.

For minors, the only treatments at issue are puberty blocking treatments and cross-sex hormones — giving testosterone to someone assigned female at birth, for example. Those who were undergoing treatment when the law was adopted in May 2023 are allowed to continue. Surgery, which is rare for minors, was banned.

“We’re not going to be a cottage industry for the mutilation of minors,” DeSantis said.

“That is not happening on my watch,” he added to a round of applause.

At least 26 states have adopted laws restricting or banning gender-affirming medical care for transgender minors, but Florida was the first state to restrict health care for transgender adults, according to the LGBTQ+ advocacy group the Human Rights Campaign.   

The ban and restrictions were contained in SB 254, one of four bills addressing transgender and LGBTQ+ issues passed during the 2023 Session. DeSantis made the issues a priority prior to his unsuccessful run for President.

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The Associated Press contributed to this report.