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'They Don't Cure Depression, but Instead Make It Worse': FL Medical Boards Ban Gender-Change Treatments for Kids

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The Florida Board of Medicine and the Board of Osteopathic Medicine have approved a rule that bans minors in the state from receiving puberty blockers, cross-sex hormones, and mutilating surgery on their sex organs.

Florida's Voice reports both boards passed the rule at a joint meeting on Friday, banning gender-altering treatments for anyone under the age of 18. 

As CBN News reported, the Board of Medicine initially voted 14-1 on Aug. 5 to advance the proposed rule against gender-altering treatments for minors, and that rule was finally passed on Friday. 

The Board of Osteopathic Medicine also passed an exception for minors currently taking puberty blockers and cross-sex hormones. They can continue if participating in an Institutional Review Board-approved clinical trial at a university-affiliated center. But the Board of Medicine voted against the exception to the rule. 

As a result, medical doctors in Florida can no longer prescribe these hormones for minors for clinical trials.

The Board of Medicine's chairman, Dr. David A. Diamond, a radiation oncologist, said the pressing need right now is quality research on the subject, according to the National Review

"The chief point of agreement among all of the experts — and I must emphasize this — is that there is a pressing need for additional, high-quality clinical research," Diamond said. 

The reason? More than 70 percent of children with gender dysphoria outgrow it, City Journal reported in February. 

Florida Surgeon General Joseph A. Ladapo praised the decision, saying the state would take a stand "for kids to be kids."

"Today, the Boards of Medicine & Osteopathic Medicine voted to protect our children from irreversible surgeries and highly experimental treatments," Ladapo said in a statement. "I appreciate their integrity for ruling in the best interest of Florida children despite facing tremendous pressure to permit these risky and unproven treatments."

"Children deserve to learn how to navigate this world without harmful pressure. Florida will continue to fight for kids to be kids," he added.

'Ghoulish Gender Experiments'

Roger Severino, vice president of domestic policy at The Heritage Foundation and former director of the Office for Civil Rights at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, told The Daily Signal that children should "never have their sex treated as a disease that needs 'curing' through permanently sterilizing surgeries, hormones, and puberty blockers."

"We applaud the Florida Boards of Medicine and Osteopathic Medicine for protecting children from ghoulish gender experiments that leave kids scarred and infertile," he said. "They don't cure depression, but instead make it worse."

During the public comment period for the rule, several people shared their "de-transitioning" experiences and noted the irreversible effects of these procedures. Parents testified that they were told there were no options other than these drugs for their children who were struggling with gender confusion. Minors were also given the drugs without parental permission, according to Liberty Counsel, a Christian religious rights law firm.

Former Transgender: 'I Wasn't Capable of Understanding'

As CBN's Faithwire reported in July, Chloe Cole, 17, shared her tragic story in a public hearing before the Florida Agency for Health Care Administration, explaining her efforts to transition to identifying as a male, which began when she was 13. She has since reversed course and is reportedly trying to help others see the confusion she faced and the residual pain.

"I really didn't understand all the ramifications of any of the medical decisions I was making," she said. "I wasn't capable of understanding."

As the trans trend has escalated in recent years, officials in several U.S. states have said it's tantamount to child abuse to transition a minor person's gender before they have any comprehension of the irreversible steps they're taking. 

FL Health Dept. Rebuked Biden Admin's Guidance on Gender Dysphoria

The push by the Sunshine State to ban puberty blockers and cross-sex hormones for children began last April when Florida's Department of Health (DOH) rebuked the guidance issued by the Biden administration on gender dysphoria treatment for children and adolescents and released its own guidelines instead. 

The department crafted the state's new guidance using published and peer-reviewed data that calls into question the motives of the federal Health and Human Services Department. Guidance of this magnitude requires a full, diligent understanding of the scientific evidence, Florida's DOH said.

The health department also explained, "current evidence does not support the use of puberty blockers, hormone treatments or surgical procedures for children and adolescents experiencing gender dysphoria," citing the following concerns: 

  • 80% of those seeking clinical care will lose their desire to identify with the non-birth sex,
  • the importance of puberty to brain development, with the pre-frontal cortex (which is responsible for executive functions, such as decision-making) continuing to develop until approximately 25 years of age,
  • and the potentially irreversible consequences such as cardiovascular disease, osteoporosis, infertility, increased cancer risk, and thrombosis.

To further validate the scientific evidence, the DOH also released its Treatment of Gender Dysphoria for Children and Adolescents Fact Check which addresses the claims made by the federal Health and Human Services Department. 

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About The Author

Steve Warren is a senior multimedia producer for CBN News. Warren has worked in the news departments of television stations and cable networks across the country. In addition, he also worked as a producer-director in television production and on-air promotion. A Civil War historian, he authored the book The Second Battle of Cabin Creek: Brilliant Victory. It was the companion book to the television documentary titled Last Raid at Cabin Creek currently streaming on Amazon Prime. He holds an M.A. in Journalism from the University of Oklahoma and a B.A. in Communication from the University of