Ban on sex reassignment surgeries, medications for minors heads to DeSantis

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (FLV) – The Florida Legislature passed a bill to ban sex reassignment surgeries and medications for minors.

The House voted 83-28 and the Senate voted 26-13 Thursday, sending the bill to Gov. Ron DeSantis for his signature.

“This is not science. This is a cult that is focused on the abuse of children,” Bill sponsor Rep. Randy Fine, R-South Brevard County, said on the House floor.

“Trans people are not evil. We get accused of that. They’re not evil. But you know what they are? They’re the victims of those who are, who prey on them, and who prey [on] a mental condition to make money,” Fine said.

Rep. Ralph Massullo, R-Lecanto, also sponsored the bill in the House while Sen. Clay Yarborough, R-Jacksonville, handled the bill in the Senate.

For the minors already receiving medications such as puberty blockers and cross-sex hormones prior to the bill becoming law, their fate would be up to the Board of Medicine.

Following the bill becoming law, the Board of Medicine would have 60 days to come up with emergency rules on whether minors can still use the drugs.

The bill does not ban private insurers from providing the treatments for adults, unlike the previous House version of the bill. Instead, adults can use private insurance for the surgeries and prescriptions.

State fund are prohibited from being used for these treatments. This includes state counties, municipalities, districts, and commissions.

Democrats, including Rep. Anna Eskamani, D-Orlando, said there has been “sensational language” surrounding these treatments.

“These are your neighbors, your friends, loved ones, your co-workers,” she said. “They just want to be their authentic selves and access the health care they need to do so.”

Eskamani said people are moving out of the state to receive the “essential” medical care they can’t receive in Florida.