ATLANTA — 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 ruling against the ban while the case is appealed.
The 2-1 decision was issued by the 11th US Circuit Court of Appeals in Atlanta. The law revived by the ruling prohibits transgender people from being prescribed puberty blockers and hormone replacement therapy, even with parental permission. It also required that transgender people receive treatment only from a physician and not from a registered nurse or other qualified physician. Adults who want the treatment must be in the room with the doctor when signing the consent form.
U.S. District Judge Robert Hinkle blocked the law in June.
Florida’s lawyers had conceded during the district court trial that the state cannot stop someone from seeking care for a transgender person, but said it can regulate medical care.
For minors, the only treatments that are current are puberty-blocking treatments and cross-sex hormones — giving testosterone to someone assigned female at birth, for example. Those who were under treatment when the law was passed in May 2023 were allowed to continue. Surgery, which is rare for minors, was still blocked.
At least 26 states have passed laws restricting or banning gender-affirming medical care for transgender minors, and most of those states are facing lawsuits. Federal judges have struck down the bans in Arkansas and Florida as unconstitutional, although a federal appeals court has stayed the Florida ruling. A judge’s order is in place temporarily blocking enforcement of the ban in Montana.
The states that have passed laws restricting or banning transgender medical care: 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.