In a narrow ruling Tuesday, a Florida judge blocked enforcement of the state’s ban on affirming transgender care, calling the rule “an exercise in politics, not good medicine.”
US District Judge Robert Hinkle granted a preliminary injunction against Florida surgeon general Joseph Ladapo, the Florida Board of Medicine, the Florida Board of Osteopathic Medicine and other state leaders and will allow parents who challenged the state access to medical care for their transgender children as the constitutionality of the ban is debated in court.
“Plaintiffs’ adolescent children will be irreparably harmed by the initiation and progression of unwanted and irreversible puberty in their natal sex if they do not promptly initiate GnRH agonist treatment,” wrote Hinkle, who was nominated by former chairman Bill Clinton in 1996. “The treatment will be with the patients themselves, no one else, and will cause no harm to the defendants. The preliminary injunction will be consistent with, not contrary to, the public interest. Compliance with the Constitution is always in the public interest “.
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Hinkle’s decision pauses a board rule that advanced a ban on puberty blockers, also known as GnRH agonists, and hormone therapy, for the three plaintiffs in the case: Jane Doe on behalf of Susan Doe, Gloria Goe for on behalf of Gavin Goe, and Linda Loe on behalf of Lisa Loe.
Supporters say the ruling signals the ban could be considered unconstitutional and apply to all parents as it violates the right to make informed decisions about their children’s medical care.
Hinkle’s preliminary injunction immediately allows these parents of transgender children to be given drugs that can delay the onset or continuation of puberty and cross-sex hormones testosterone for transgender males and estrogen for transgender females that promote the development of characteristics that they align with a patient’s gender identity.
The injunction does not refer to gender-affirming surgeries, which Hinkle says 98 percent of such surgeries are performed on adults, not minors.
Hinkle said denying gender-affirming treatment would cause “unnecessary suffering for a substantial number of patients and increase anxiety, depression and the risk of suicide,” according to doctors’ testimony at the hearing.
“There is no rational basis for a state to categorically ban these treatments,” Hinkle wrote.
THE USA TODAY Network – Florida has a pending request for comment with the governor’s office as of Tuesday afternoon.
Banning gender-affirming assistance for trans youth has been a priority of Governor Ron DeSantis’s administration, which prompted the Board of Medicine last year to look into assistance. DeSantis and other Republican leaders have said the cure is experimental and lacks evidence.
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In the order, Hinkle says the “unspoken hint that runs just beneath the surface” in the ban is that defendants believe that “transgender identity is not real, that it is made up” and that “any supporter of the statute and rules contested should stand up or shut up…”
“Gender identity is real,” Hinkle says throughout the order, and says transgender people have faced and continue to face “bigotry.”
“Common experience bears this out, as does a Florida lawmaker’s notable reference to transgender witnesses in a committee hearing as ‘mutants’ and ‘demons,'” Hinkle wrote.
In early April, Republican Congressman Webster Barnaby likened transgender people to “mutants,” “fiends,” and “madmen” during a meeting of the House Commerce Committee shortly before voting in support of Bill 1521, which requires people to use public toilets that match their gender. assigned at birth.
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Hinkle says the defendant’s arguments that gender-affirming care is harmful to minors, that it is banned in European countries, and that Florida is joining the “international consensus” in medical care are false.
“And no matter how many times defendants say it, it will still be false. No country in Europe or as far as this record shows, anywhere in the world completely bans these treatments,” Hinkle wrote.
“Had Florida truly joined the international consensus by making these treatments available in appropriate circumstances or in approved facilities, these plaintiffs would qualify and snap motions would not be necessary,” he added.
The case was filed anonymously by Jane Doe, who is contesting the ban on behalf of her and her daughter Susan.
My husband and I are heartbroken and worried that we won’t be able to take care of our daughter the way we know she needs to. I’m sure almost any parent can imagine the sense of helplessness that comes with being unable to do something as basic as getting medical care for your child,” Doe said in a statement.
The families are represented by Southern Legal Counsel, GLBTQ Legal Advocates & Defenders, the National Center for Lesbian Rights and the Human Rights Campaign.
Today’s ruling is a powerful affirmation of the humanity of transgender people, the efficacy of well-established, science-based medical care, and the rights of parents to make informed health care decisions for their children,” the groups said in a statement.” We are incredibly relieved that these Florida parents can continue to receive health care for their children as we proceed to challenge these bans and ultimately see them completely overturned.
Contact Ana Goi-LessanatAGoniLessan@tallahassee.com and follow her on Twitter@goni_lessan.
CLARIFICATION:An updated version of this story clarified that the sentence is narrow and applies only to parents involved in the lawsuit as the complete case is considered.
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