Two Vague Florida Bills Seek to Felonize Giving Gender-Affirming Care to Trans Kids

Florida lawmakers advanced two bills in the past week that together would make it a felony for medical providers or state employees to “aid or abet” gender-affirming care for transgender youth, as well as moving along a third bill which could limit LGBTQ+ young people from accessing mental health hotlines and other crisis services.

Both HB 743 and SB 1010 would allow third-degree felony charges to be filed against any medical practitioner “who aids or abets another” in the provision of gender-affirming care (termed “sex-reassignment prescriptions and procedures” under existing state law) for a patient under 18 years old. The Senate bill would also allow for civil liability claims to be brought against those medical providers as well as any state employees said to have violated Florida’s “parental rights” law, better known as “Don’t Say Gay,” with potential fines of “up to $100,000 for each violation.”

Neither bill defines what would constitute “aiding and abetting” in the context of gender-affirming care. The Senate bill would allow the state attorney general’s office to pursue charges up to two years after an alleged violation.

SB 1010 was approved by the Senate committee for Children, Families, and Elder Affairs on January 20 in a 5-1 vote, and is now under review by the Health Policy committee. Likewise, HB 743 was marked “favorable” by the House Criminal Justice Subcommittee the same day by a vote of 12-5.

Health care providers worry the bills could further impact their ability to deliver the care their patients need, in a state that already seeks to impede access to gender-affirming care at every turn.

“This could increase the feelings of fear from my clients who are under 18, but it also can increase the likelihood that these professionals won’t be able to talk with their clients, honestly and openly, to give them the care and the support that they deserve and need,” behavioral health professional Savannah Thompson told WLRN last week.

The third bill, HB 173, revises several state medical rights laws to further restrict access to multiple kinds of care. One section of the bill would prevent children 13 and older from accessing outpatient crisis intervention services without parental consent, which some lawmakers opposed to the bill warn could include mental health crisis hotlines such as 988. Cutting off access to crisis hotlines would disproportionately impact LGBTQ+ youth in the state, 69% of whom said they wanted to move away due to anti-LGBTQ+ laws and policies in a Trevor Project survey published last year. The Trump administration shut down the 988 hotline’s specialized services for LGBTQ+ youth last July.

“I can tell you right now, if my teen is about to kill themselves, I want them to access a hotline,” Democrat Rep. Robin Bartleman reportedly told the bill’s GOP sponsor Rep. Kim Kendall during debate, per the Florida Phoenix.

The House Health & Human Services Committee marked HB 173 “favorable” in a 19-7 party line vote on Tuesday. It is also awaiting consideration in the Judiciary and Education & Employment Committees.

Since the passage of “Don’t Say Gay” in 2022, Florida Republicans have been on the front lines of the GOP’s campaign against trans rights, particularly targeting gender-affirming care for trans youth as well as workplace discrimination protections and access to identity documents. In December, Florida Attorney General James Uthmeier sued three major medical organizations that endorse gender-affirming care, alleging that the groups engaged in “racketeering” by continuing to support such treatments.