Florida medical board BANS puberty blockers for minors after hearing testimony
Democrats are enraged after the Florida Board of Medicine voted to ban “gender-affirming care,” including puberty blockers and hormone therapies for children under the age of 18 who have gender dysphoria following the testimony of de-transitioners.
(Video Credit: CatholicVote)
The reasoning for the determination by board members was based on the irreversibility of the drugs on children and the growing number of people choosing to “de-transition” following sometimes irreversible gender-altering surgeries, according to the Daily Mail.
The decision applies to all those under the age of 18 in Florida, including those who have a previous prescription and are currently taking the drugs for gender transition.
The recommendation now proceeds to the full medical board, which is expected to adopt the rule.
“I believe that based upon the testimony that we’ve heard this morning and the materials in the portal, that the risk of puberty suppressing therapies, cross-hormonal therapy, and surgery, those risks outweigh the possible benefits and that there is a lack of consistent, reliable, scientific peer-reviewed evidence concerning the efficacy and safety of such treatment,” Nicholas Romanello, a member of the state Board of Medicine who proposed the rule, stated according to Florida’s Voice.
Governor Ron DeSantis (R-FL) has slammed the use of medical treatments for transitioning children. He has previously asserted that doctors who operate on children concerning gender “need to get sued.”
Similar actions have been put in place in Arizona. In that state, gender-affirming surgeries, such as chest reconstructions and operations to remove or replace genitals, are banned. A Vanderbilt University study found that the number of chest reconstruction surgeries performed on trans youth has surged five-fold in recent years.
Alabama, Arkansas, and Texas are attempting to pass rules that mirror Florida’s but have been stymied in courts over it.
Dr. Joseph Ladapo, who is Florida’s surgeon general, requested that the board establish a standard for care for trans teens earlier in 2022.
A report from UCLA this year noted that 1.34 percent of California’s teens, ranging between 13 and 17 years old, are transgender. The leftist state is plowing ahead full steam with gender-affirming surgeries for all ages in contrast to Florida’s actions on the matter.
Puberty blockers are used on teens to stop the aging process, sometimes for years. Under the new rules in Florida, doctors will no longer be able to recommend them to teens.
Hormone treatments are utilized to promote biological traits from the opposite sex, such as the deepening of the voice or growing facial hair. Those are being halted as well.
De-transitioners and advocates for banning transgender treatments spoke during the board meeting.
(Video Credit: The Post Millenial)
One woman heartbreakingly recounted how physically, mentally, and emotionally damaging the treatments were. She claimed she was diagnosed with PTSD and OCD and tried to commit suicide while receiving testosterone treatments as she transitioned to a man.
She pointed out that since she has de-transitioned her mental health has improved. But her menstrual cycle has been messed up and she has had other after-effects.
“I’m truly grateful I never got surgery because I’m happily married and 28 weeks pregnant,” another woman commented. “But if I had gotten surgeries that I so desperately wanted as a teenager, that would’ve stolen this future from me.”
“The scientific evidence supporting these complex medical interventions is extraordinarily weak,” Dr. Ladapo wrote in a letter last June. “…there is great uncertainty about the effects of puberty blockers, cross-sex hormones, and surgeries in young people with gender dysphoria.”
“The current standards set by numerous professional organizations appear to follow a preferred political ideology instead of the highest level of generally accepted medical science. Florida must do more to protect children from politics-based medicine. Otherwise, children and adolescents in our state will continue to face a substantial risk of long-term harm,” he added.
The Kaiser Family Foundation is reporting that 15 states are discussing 25 pieces of legislation that would restrict transgender medical procedures.
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