TALLAHASSEE, Fla. -- Advocates say transgender patients are facing barriers to “potentially life-saving health care" after a federal appeals court ruled that a Florida law banning gender-affirming care can be enforced while a legal challenge plays out. The decision handed down by the 11th U.
S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Atlanta on Monday cleared the way for Florida to prohibit transgender minors from being prescribed puberty blockers and hormonal treatments, even with their parents’ permission. The law also requires that transgender adults only receive treatment from a doctor and not from a registered nurse or other qualified provider.
Jon Harris Maurer, the public policy director for LGBTQ+ rights group Equality Florida, characterized the law as government intrusion into "vital health care". “We have parents, understandably very concerned about their children’s wellbeing, who want to make sure that they have the right to make the best decisions for their kids,” Maurer said. “This ruling puts back in place a law that interferes with that.
And it puts their kids and their families at risk.” Suicide is a leading cause of death among young people , and transgender and nonbinary youth are at a significantly increased risk . At least 26 states have adopted laws restricting or banning gender-affirming medical care for transgender minors, but Florida was the first state to restrict health care for transgender adults, according to the LGBTQ+ advocacy group the Human Ri.