FL’s DeSantis signs bill banning gender affirming care for trans kids – National & International News –

FL’s DeSantis signs some of the most restrictive anti-trans laws yet.

Abortion pill opponents seem to sway judges.

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FL’s DeSantis signs bill banning gender affirming care for trans kids

Most Republican states are competing to see who can do more to restrict the freedoms of transgender people, a group that makes up less than 0.5% of the population. Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis has just signed some the harshest anti-trans laws of any Republican governor. DeSantis hopes to challenge Donald Trump for the 2024 Republican presidential nomination, and is clearly banking on anti-Woke politics to get to the White House. 

DeSantis has already signed numerous bills that have effectively silenced discussion of race and LGBT issues in schools. This new set of laws are the most restrictive and, according to LGBT advocates, most “mean-spirited”. 

The new bills ban gender affirming medical care for transgender children, bans children from drag performances, and restricts discussion of gender pronouns in school. A separate bill will also be policing what bathroom people can use. 

Anti-trans politicians want to ban parents from obtain gender affirming care for their children suffering from gender dysphoria based on the argument that these treatments are permanent and life-altering. Gender affirming care has been shown to reduce suicide attempts and suicidal thoughts among gender dysphoric children.

Abortion pill opponents seem to sway judges

The Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals in New Orleans heard arguments today from a group of religious doctors who want to ban the abortion medication mifepristone. Abortion medications account for over half of all abortions in the US by some estimates. The FDA approved mifepristone for use in abortion in 2002. Later in 2016, the drug safety agency decreased the necessary dosage and approved mifepristone’s use to end pregnancies up to 10 weeks (up from the original 7).

The religious doctors’ group (Alliance Defending Freedom or ADF) claims the FDA’s original approval of mifepristone was “illegal” and that the agency didn’t adequately assess its safety. ADF  claims there is a high rate of complications from mifepristone’s use. But scientific studies do not support this claim. Numerous physicians’ groups and women’s health organizations have called ADF’s claim “misleading”.

The 5th Circuit judges seemed sympathetic to that a doctors’ religious rights might be violated by having to treat women whose abortion medications had failed. However, attorneys for the US Department of Justice and Danco, mifepristone’s manufacturer, argue that the doctors do not have grounds to bring the case because they practice in states where abortion is already illegal.

The DOJ also point out that ADF has brought this suit more than 10 years too late to challenge the FDA’s approval. Despite this, the judges seemed open to undoing later changes by the FDA that loosened restrictions on mifepristone’s use. The case is likely to go before the Supreme Court, probably next year.

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