A federal appeals court on Monday cleared the way for Florida to enforce a ban on gender-affirming care for minors, blocking a lower court order against the ban while the matter is appealed.
The 2-1 decision was made by the 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Atlanta. The law revived by the ruling prohibits transgender minors from being prescribed puberty blockers and hormone treatments, even with their parents’ permission. It also requires that adult transgender people can only be treated by a doctor, not a nurse or other qualified medical professional. Adults seeking treatment must be in the same room as the doctor when signing the consent form.
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US District Judge Robert Hinkle blocked the law in June.
Florida’s lawyers had acknowledged during the trial in district court that the state could not prevent someone from adopting a transgender identity, but said it could regulate medical care.
For minors, it only concerns puberty blockages and cross-sex hormones – for example, administering testosterone to a person assigned female at birth. Those who were undergoing treatment when the law was passed in May 2023 were allowed to continue treatment. Surgeries that are rarely performed on minors were still prohibited.
At least 26 states have passed laws restricting or banning gender-affirming medical care for transgender minors. Lawsuits are looming in most of these states. Federal judges have struck down the bans in Arkansas and Florida as unconstitutional, but a federal appeals court has stayed the Florida ruling. In Montana, a court order is in place that temporarily blocks enforcement of the ban.
The states that have passed laws restricting or prohibiting gender reassignment medical care for transgender minors: Alabama, Arkansas, Arizona, Florida, Georgia, Idaho, Indiana, Iowa, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, New Hampshire, North Carolina, North Dakota, Ohio, Oklahoma, South Carolina, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, West Virginia and Wyoming.
