Florida Senate approves ban on gender treatments for minors

The Florida Senate this week approved legislation to ban certain gender-related treatments for minors in the state.

The upper chamber voted on party lines Tuesday to bar individuals under the age of 18 from receiving gender surgeries or prescription hormone treatments as part of "gender-affirming" care, Politico reported. Republican state Sen. Clay Yarborough had sponsored the measure, which also bars institutions from using state funds to pay for such treatments.

The state House will soon consider Yarborough's legislation, but is also poised to consider a separate House proposal with minor differences. Both plans would grant state courts temporary jurisdiction to address cases in which a child may face such gender treatments in another state under the care of another parent.

Florida's state medical boards have already embraced rules barring doctors from performing gender surgeries on minors or prescribing hormone treatments for them. Those regulations face legal challenges from transgender advocacy organizations, per the outlet.

Yarborough defended his bill, saying "[w]e need to let kids be kids and our laws need to set appropriate boundaries that respect the rights and responsibilities of parents by protecting children from the very serious health and safety concerns associated with these treatments."

Democratic lawmakers have opposed the legislation, but Republicans have majorities in both chambers.

The efforts comes as Florida enacts sweeping conservative policies on the discussion of LGBT matters in schools. The state passed its Parental Rights in Education bill last year which bars the discussion of such materials in public schools through the third grade. Recent legislative efforts, however, have sought to expand that prohibition through the twelfth grade.

Ben Whedon is an editor and reporter for Just the News. Follow him on Twitter.