DeSantis hosts a rally in Tampa after primary
Reuters

On Friday, the State of Florida Medical Board voted in a landslide decision to ban gender-affirming transitional medical care for minors. The vote was 6-3 (with five members absent) in favor of a new standard of care prohibiting doctors from providing patients under 18 from receiving medication or surgery to seek medical gender transition.

Some practices now banned include hormonal therapy, puberty blockers, and surgery. There will be exceptions for children who are already receiving these treatments, but no new cases will be allowed until after the child turns 18. Doctors who do not follow the new regulations risk losing their medical licenses.

Florida Governor Ron DeSantis appointed the Florida Medical Board's 14 members. The vote by the medical board bypassed the Republican-led state legislature, which has twice declined to take up a bill that aimed to restrict similar treatment.

The Florida Board of Osteopathic Medicine held a similar vote on Friday but allowed an exception for children in clinical studies.

Other states have made similar bans through legislation, with Arkansas and Alabama passing laws that criminalize doctors providing all gender-related care to minors. Those laws are being challenged in court by civil rights groups. Florida's move to take the decision to its medical board is different because it targets doctors and their licensure.

The state's department of health monitors Florida's medical board. The board's primary functions include licensing and disciplining physicians, but they can also create legislation.

The New York Times reported that eight board members had donated a combined total of $100,000 to DeSantis' campaigns over the last decade, with four members donating over $15,000 each.

Friday's decision was the conclusion of months of discussion about the future of gender-affirming care in the state. Florida became one of nine states to ban Medicaid from being used for gender-affirming care earlier this year.

Florida