Florida Senate Approves Bill, Endorsed By GOP Gov. Ron DeSantis, That Prohibits Gender-Transitioning Treatments For Minors

Getty Images

Disclaimer:  This article may contain the personal views and opinions of the author.

The transgender debate is front and center in politics, social media, advertising, sports, education, and more. 

It’s a topic we can’t seem to escape and one about which both sides are very passionate. 

No matter where you stand on the issue, one aspect we should agree on is how it applies to minors. 

Minors are not equipped to make life-altering decisions and that includes changing genders. 

On Tuesday, the Florida Senate approved the bill, SB 254, which allows a ban on transgender treatments for children under the age of 18. 

Republican state Sen. Clay Yarborough introduced the legislation which prohibits sex-reassignment surgeries and prescription-based cross-sex hormones to treat gender dysphoria for anyone under 18. 

Another aspect of the bill takes away Medicaid coverage for anyone, no matter the age, undergoing such procedures. 

A mom of a transgender person once said that her daughter might think long and hard about her decision if it was not readily covered by insurance. 

Gov. Ron DeSantis and Florida Surgeon General Joseph Ladapo are proponents of the new legislation. 

“This legislation sends a strong message that Florida is a safe place to raise children. As the father of four young boys, I know that childhood is as special as it is short. Florida parents are worried about the radical, prurient agenda that has become pervasive across most forms of media, specifically targeting young children,” Yarborough said when he announced the bill last month.

“We need to let kids be kids, and our laws need to set appropriate boundaries that respect the rights and responsibilities of parents, while protecting children from the serious health, safety, and welfare consequences of social agendas that are totally inconsistent with how the overwhelming majority of parents want to raise their children,” he added.

The need for such laws is consistent with what Yarborough pointed out. Young children are the targets of a radical ideology.

It comes at them in schools and all across the media. Kids can’t even watch cartoons without seeing some type of trans propaganda.

The big argument coming from trans activists is that without “gender-affirming care,” these young people become depressed and suicidal.

Opponents of “genital mutilation” cite the fact that countries in Europe have taken a step back after finding that the benefits of puberty blockers and cross-sex hormones are low compared to the risks of such measures.

In unity, Democrats rallied against the bill.

State Sen. Shevrin Jones said, “They’re committing suicide because of how they’re treated. Do we want to be that type of body where we’re continuing on pushing, pushing, pushing these young people who may look different and may not be like your child?”

“I would say free states don’t ban health care,” State Sen. Lori Berman said. “This bill is wrong on the way it attacks transgender adults, wrong on the way it attacks parents’ rights to raise their children, and wrong on how it puts medical professionals at risk.”

Berman noted that many major medical groups support gender-affirming care for youths with gender dysphoria.

After the COVID pandemic, many Americans no longer trust the word of such groups as the American Medical Association, the American Academy of Pediatrics, or the American Psychiatric Association that the state senator cited.

Again, we have to wonder why this is happening.

Why has the “number of transgender teens under 18 doubled between 2017 and 2020, from .7% to 1.4%?” according to UCLA research.

That’s a question that needs an answer before we ruin the lives of millions of children.