DeSantis signs ban on reassignment surgeries, medications for minors

TAMPA, Fla. (FLV) – Gov. Ron DeSantis signed a bill to ban sex reassignment surgeries and medications for minors Wednesday.

The House voted 83-28 and the Senate voted 26-13 before sending the bill to DeSantis for his signature.

Rep. Randy Fine, R-South Brevard County, and Rep. Ralph Massullo, R-Lecanto, sponsored the bill in the House while Sen. Clay Yarborough, R-Jacksonville, handled the bill in the Senate.

Yarborough used his time to thank the governor for his leadership.

“As a dad of young children myself, I know you understand how important it is for parents to know what is going on with their children,” Yarborough said.

Fine reiterated, like he did during the floor debates, that “there is evil in this world and we are fighting it here today.”

“The fight that we have had here in Florida is about the fundamental nature of childhood itself,” Fine said.

Prohibited medications include cross-sex hormones and puberty blockers, which some doctors have used to treat gender dysphoria.

“You have a movement amongst I would say rogue elements of the medical establishment, to do things that is basically the mutilation of minors,” DeSantis said, as he called the procedures “irreversible.”

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 Florida Board of Medicine and the Florida Board of Osteopathic Medicine at a joint meeting approved rules in 2022 banning these treatments for those under the age of 18.

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

Physicians are required to receive written informed consent from adults receiving the surgeries or prescriptions.

The governor said it also gives the Florida courts temporary jurisdiction to intervene and halt procedures for out-of-state children.

“You have actually some states in this country that want to be a haven for these types of procedures, and even welcome minors without their parents consent,” DeSantis said. “We’re obviously doing the opposite here.”

The governor said it also creates a pathway for individuals to obtain damages when they were injured or killed after receiving sex reassignment surgeries or medications as minors.  

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.

The governor also signed bills to prohibit pronoun use requirements in schools and require separate bathrooms based on biological sex in certain facilities.

“DeSantis has just signed into law the largest slate of anti-LGBTQ bills in one legislative session in the state’s history,” said Joe Saunders, Senior Political Director of Equality Florida. “This is an all out attack on freedom.”