by WorldTribune Staff / 247 Real News March 19, 2023

Florida’s law which bans minors from undergoing gender transition procedures went into effect on March 16, 2023.

The Florida Board of Medicine’s new measure prohibits the use of puberty blockers, hormone therapies or surgeries to treat gender dysphoria for anyone in the state under the age of 18.

Children who were already receiving gender-affirming treatment prior to Thursday can continue to do so, but they aren’t able to undergo sex reassignment surgeries under the new rule.

Republican state lawmakers say they plan to strengthen the restrictions even further.

GOP lawmakers are currently advancing a bill through the Florida Senate that will make it a felony to provide any such gender-affirming care to minors, as well as ban state funds from being used to cover gender transition procedures for adults.

A companion bill has also been introduced in the state House.

Before the Florida law went into effect, Joe Biden said the new rule was “close to sinful.”

“It’s just terrible what they’re doing. It’s not like, you know, a kid wakes up one morning and says, ‘You know, I decided I wanted to become a man,’ or ‘I want to become a woman’ … I mean, what are they thinking about here?” It’s cruel,” Biden told “The Daily Show”.

Florida Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis responded by tweeting: “It is not ‘sinful’ to prohibit the mutilation of minors. It is not acceptable for the federal government to mandate that procedures like sex change operations be allowed for kids.”

Chairman of the Florida Board of Medicine Scot Ackerman said of the new law: “What the board has sought to do is protect our children from therapies that have irreversible harm … So it’s a very limited set of therapies that have been restricted, but this board still wants these patients cared for, absolutely.”

Other states have approved similar measures.

GOP legislators in Kentucky overwhelmingly passed a new measure Thursday to ban gender-affirming care for transgender minors. Kentucky’s new bill also contains sweeping measures that would allow teachers to refuse to refer to transgender students by their preferred pronouns and ban schools from discussing sexual orientation or gender identity with students of any age.

Mississippi Republican Gov. Tate Reeves recently signed a bill to ban gender-affirming hormones or surgery in the state for anyone under 18.

Also this year, South Dakota Republican Gov. Kristi Noem, and Utah Republican Gov. Spencer Cox have signed bans on gender-affirming care for children.

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