Florida Trans Youth Medical Ban Lawsuit

Four Florida families have filed a lawsuit in federal court challenging the Florida Boards of Medicine & Osteopathic Medicine’s new rules banning the medically necessary healthcare for their transgender children's needs. Last summer Florida Surgeon General Joseph Ladapo & the Department of Health asked the state Boards of Medicine & Osteopathic Medicine to adopt a categorical ban on all treatment of gender dysphoria for people under eighteen years of age. In February & March of 2023 the Boards adopted formal rules prohibiting all access to safe, effective medical treatments for transgender youth who have received a gender dysphoria diagnosis but who have not yet begun puberty-delaying medication or hormone treatments. Surgeon General Ladapo & all members of the Florida Boards of Medicine & Osteopathic Medicine are defendants in the families’ suit challenging the ban. The bans contradict guidelines established through years of clinical research & recommended by every major medical association including the American Academy of Pediatrics, the American Medical Association & the American Academy of Child & Adolescent Psychiatry. Sarah Warbelow, Human Rights Campaign Legal Director stated, “It’s alarming to see such a concerted, top-down effort to target a small & vulnerable population. The Florida Surgeon General, Department of Health & Boards of Medicine should be focused on the real & serious public health issues Florida faces, not on putting transgender kids & their families in harm’s way.” Shannon Minter, Legal Director of the National Center for Lesbian Rights concluded, “Parents, not the government, should make healthcare decisions for their children. This policy crosses a dangerous line & should concern anyone who cares about family privacy or the ability of doctors to do their jobs without undue government interference.”

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