Judge says Florida can’t enforce trans care restrictions while appealing his ruling

Author: Trudy Ring

A federal judge has refused to stay his decision striking down Florida’s restrictions on gender-affirming care while the state appeals.It further added severe restrictions that effectively blocked access to essential medical care for trans adults and minors who would be eligible for the continued-use exception, including requiring that care be provided exclusively by physicians, barring telehealth, and requiring patients to complete unique, onerous, and misleading consent forms.“We are pleased the court will continue to enforce this important decision, which correctly found that Florida’s ban on lifesaving medical care for transgender youth and adults was based on bias, not facts,” added Shannon Minter, legal director at NCLR. “Like other similar laws around the country, Florida’s ban was passed impulsively, without any attempt to genuinely understand this area of health care or the best interests of transgender youth and their families. The State of Florida continues to ignore the facts and make unsupported and, in some cases, outlandish claims. We are grateful to Judge Hinkle for calling these state officials to task for their misrepresentations.”

There has so far been no public response to the ruling by DeSantis, Ladapo, or other Florida officials. DeSantis’s office did refer the Florida Phoenixto statements he made regarding the June decision. “If you’re not willing to defend Florida’s duly enacted statutes against liberal jurisprudence, then you’re basically saying the people of Florida shouldn’t govern themselves and that we should just turn over our destiny to some trial judge somewhere. That I refuse to do,” DeSantis said in a news conference at the time.

Original Article on The Advocate
Author: Trudy Ring