Court allows DeSantis anti-trans law to go into effect in Florida, forcing providers to stop ‘essential health care’.

Advocates say transgender patients face barriers to “potentially life-saving health care” after an appeals court ruled that a Florida law banning gender-affirming care can be enforced while a legal challenge is pending.

A ruling by the 11th US Circuit Court of Appeals in Atlanta on Monday cleared the way for Florida to ban transgender children from being given anti-puberty drugs and hormone therapy, even with their parents’ consent. The law also requires that transgender adults receive treatment only from a doctor and not from a registered nurse or other qualified provider.

Jon Harris Maurer, director of public policy for the LGBTQ+ rights group Equality Florida, characterized the law as government interference in “essential health care.”

“We have parents, understandably very concerned about the welfare of their children, who want to make sure they have the right to make the best decisions for their children,” Maurer said. “This decision reverses the law that interferes with that. And it puts their children and their families at risk.”

Suicide is the leading cause of death for young people, and transgender and nonbinary youth are particularly at risk.

At least 26 states have passed laws prohibiting or prohibiting gender-affirming medical care for transgender children, but Florida was the first state to restrict health care for transgender adults, according to the LGBTQ+ Human Rights Campaign.

Florida enforcement has been suspended since June, after US District Judge Robert Hinkle struck down the ban as unconstitutional.

Governor Ron DeSantis, who signed the law in May of 2023, has made anti-LGBTQ+ legislation a major part of his agenda and national political profile. Asked to comment on the decision, the spokesman pointed to statements DeSantis made in June, predicting that Hinkle’s decision would be overturned.

“We will stand for the laws that are set in the right way. We will fight to protect the innocence of these children,” said DeSantis. “We will win that appeal.”

The American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) has repeatedly affirmed transgender care for children, noting that transgender youth and adults have high rates of depression, self-harm, and suicide, and says providers have a “vital” role in supporting patients. and their families in evidence-based decision-making.

“The AAP opposes any laws or regulations that discriminate against transgender and genderqueer individuals, or that interfere with the physician-patient relationship,” the organization said in an August 2023 statement reaffirming its gender-based care policy.

For nurse Joseph Knoll, the 2-1 decision on Monday was disappointing but not surprising.

While the law was on hold for the past two months, Knoll and other Spektrum Health providers in Orlando have been running around the clock to deal with the backlog of patients who were denied care under the provision.

Spektrum specializes in LGBTQ+ primary care and most of its 5,000 patients come to the clinic for gender-affirming care and medical transition services, according to Knoll, who is also Spektrum’s CEO.

“During this small period of freedom as I call it . . . we used that time well to make sure that all of our patients were well-medicated,” Knoll told the Associated Press. Although I hoped it wouldn’t be necessary, at least now we can say, I’m glad we did all the things we did.”

As recently as last week, the clinic was accepting new patients and scheduling appointments for them. This week’s decision changed that.

“Now they are telling them that we cannot book that position for them. Although we can make a consultation time, but we cannot say anything at this time,” said Knoll.

Knoll said he hopes the work the clinic has done writing refills over the past few months is enough to carry patients through the next phase of the legal battle. But she worries that state lawmakers intent on banning procedures they see as dangerous, even contrary to best medical practice, may not stop with sex-affirming care.

“If they use this method to reduce health care that they don’t like or don’t agree with, where does that end?” Knoll said. “What will they do next?”

-Kate Payne, Associated Press/American Report

Kate Payne is a member of the Associated Press/Reporting America Statehouse News Initiative team. Report for America is a national nonprofit service program that puts journalists in local newsrooms to report on issues that are not being covered.

This story includes a discussion of suicide. If you or someone you know needs help, please call the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 988.