Politico reported on Thursday that Florida’s legislature passed a bill punishing doctors for performing gender-transition surgery and other procedures on children.
The Governor of Florida said that this was wrong, and he is glad to have stopped it. We are happy we stopped it in Florida. Ron DeSantis said at a press conference on Friday.
“It’s wrong to be sexualizing these kids. It’s wrong to have gender ideology and tell kids that they may have been born in the wrong body. So we’re on the right side of that,” DeSantis also said.
DeSantis’ response to a journalist’s question on the controversial subject was direct.
DeSantis stated, “People use a euphemism and say that it is health care to remove the intimate parts of a 14- or 15-year-old. ”
“This is not health care, it’s mutilation,” he said, gesturing to emphasize.
He said, “When we speak out against it, we protect these children.”
WATCH: DeSantis interrupts reporter on sex transition for minors
“Seriously? … I know people in your industry will dress it up with a euphemism, and they’ll say it’s ‘healthcare’ to cut off the private parts of a 14 or 15-year-old. That is not healthcare, that is mutilation.” pic.twitter.com/Nok2YuYmbk
— Florida’s Voice (@FLVoiceNews) May 5, 2023
This bill codifies Florida’s Board of Medicine and Board of Osteopathic Medicine measures to deal with gender transitioning among minors. It also prohibits adults from receiving controversial procedures via telemedicine.
According to Politico, a previous version of Florida SB 254 was intended to prevent private insurers from funding controversial procedures as well as to prohibit gender changes on birth certificates. However, the final bill did exclude either of these provisions.
Randy Fine (R), the state representative that sponsored the bill, told The Outlet these provisions may still be implemented during future legislative sessions.
DeSantis described how Chloe Cole and other children who underwent gender transition procedures as children are now warning others about their “biggest regret in life” and feeling manipulated.
DeSantis said that teenagers grow out of the problems they face. He said that “80 to 90% of the issues will be resolved at the end.”
He went on to explain some of the procedures which are prohibited by law, including double mastectomy for physically fit girls.
The New York Times reports that, if Governor DeSantis signs the bill, Florida will join at least 13 other states which have limited use of transgender hormonal treatments, gender-transition surgery, and puberty-blocking drugs for minors.
View the entire press conference of Florida Governor Ron DeSantis. Below is a section on gender transition procedures for children. The first section begins at 37:55.
