![]() “Parents, not the government, should make healthcare decisions for their children,” said Shannon Minter, Legal Director of the National Center for Lesbian Rights. “The Florida Boards of Medicine chose to ignore the evidence and science in front of them and instead put families in the unthinkable position of not being able to provide essential healthcare for their kids,” said Jennifer Levi, Senior Director of Transgender and Queer Rights, GLBTQ Legal Advocates & Defenders. They are preparing to file a lawsuit challenging the ban in federal court. The parent plaintiffs and their children are represented by Southern Legal Counsel, GLBTQ Legal Advocates & Defenders, the National Center for Lesbian Rights, and the Human Rights Campaign. They work tirelessly every day to ensure the best health outcomes for their kids and patients, and they are worried sick about the devastating impacts that this ban will have.” I have worked with families and their healthcare providers in Florida for many years. “There is an unbelievable degree of hypocrisy when a state that holds itself out as being deeply concerned with protecting ‘parents’ rights’ strips parents of their right to ensure their children receive appropriate medical care. ![]() “This policy came about through a political process with a predetermined conclusion, and it stands in direct contrast to the overwhelming weight of the evidence and science,” said Simone Chriss, Director of Transgender Rights Initiative, Southern Legal Counsel. It is every parents’ worst nightmare to have to worry about the unthinkable.” ![]() I am so worried about the impact that lack of access to medical treatment will have on my child. “My son was finally getting to a place where he felt hopeful, where being prescribed testosterone was on the horizon and he could see a future for himself in his own body, but that has been ripped away by this discriminatory rule. “The cruel and unnecessary actions taken by the Florida Boards of Medicine harm transgender children in Florida and strip parents like myself of our right to ensure our children receive appropriate, evidence-based medical care,” said a second Florida mother who is joining the lawsuit on behalf of herself and her fourteen-year-old son. But because of where we live, our family will now be treated differently than other military families who are doing the same job to serve our country in states without discriminatory bans like this one.” “The military doctors have been nothing but supportive of our family, and our military insurance covers my daughter’s recommended care. “We have no choice but to stay here and fight for our daughter,” said Jane Doe. That family is not able to move out of state to seek the care that their daughter, Susan Doe, needs. I’m devastated by what this will mean for her physical and mental health.”Īccording to a press release issued by GLAD, the Does are a military family who moved to Florida when John Doe was stationed there as a Senior Officer in the U.S. ![]() Our daughter is a happy, confident child but denying her access to the medical care recommended by her doctors would completely disrupt her life. This ban bars us from getting her the treatment she needs when she hits puberty. ![]() “We have worked with our family doctors since our daughter was young to understand what she is experiencing and to carefully decide on the right path for her, which is to live as the girl she is. “We know how essential it is for our daughter to get the medical care she needs, and this ban terrifies us,” said Jane Doe, mother of 11-year-old Susan Doe. As healthcare providers and researchers express alarm about the ban’s disregard for science and medicine, a group of Florida parents committed to protecting the health and wellbeing of their children, and who are deeply concerned about the ban’s impact, are preparing to challenge the rule in federal court. ![]()
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