On Wednesday, the Florida Department of Health issued guidelines prohibiting minors from receiving transgender treatments.
According to a press release from Gov. Ron DeSantis and the Florida Surgeon General Joseph Ladapo, under the guidelines, children and adolescents should not undergo social gender transition as a treatment option, nor should anyone under 18 be prescribed puberty blockers or hormone therapy.
Healthcare professionals were also advised not to conduct gender reassignment surgery for children and adolescents. Instead, youths with gender dysphoria should be provided with social support from their family and friends and a licensed counselor.
The Florida Dept. of Health said it issued the guidance because there is a "lack of conclusive evidence, and the potential for long-term, irreversible effects" when children undergo transgender treatments.
"Based on the currently available evidence,' encouraging mastectomy, ovariectomy,
uterine extirpation, penile disablement, tracheal shave, the prescription of hormones
which are out of line with the genetic make-up of the child, or puberty blockers, are all
clinical practices which run an unacceptably high risk of doing harm,'" the guidance states.
The treatment and procedural guidelines do not apply to minors born with a genetically or biochemically verifiable disorder of sex development (DSD).
The release of the guidance comes following the Biden administration's endorsement of transgender treatment for children earlier this month.
"The federal government's medical establishment releasing guidance failing at the most basic level of academic rigor shows that this was never about health care," State Surgeon General Joseph Ladapo said in a statement. "It was about injecting political ideology into the health of our children. Children experiencing gender dysphoria should be supported by family and seek counseling, not pushed into an irreversible decision before they reach 18."
The Department notes that the guidelines were "consistent with the federal Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services age requirement for surgical and non-surgical treatment" and are also in line with the guidance, reviews, and recommendations from other countries such as Sweden, Finland, the United Kingdom, and France.
Related:
Biden Administration Endorses 'Gender Affirming Care' for Kids, Youth
Photo courtesy: ©Getty Images/Devenorr
Milton Quintanilla is a freelance writer and content creator. He is a contributing writer for CrosswalkHeadlines and the host of the For Your Soul Podcast, a podcast devoted to sound doctrine and biblical truth. He holds a Masters of Divinity from Alliance Theological Seminary.
