Politicians are playing games with my patients’ lives. Help me protect them | Opinion
If Florida House Bill 1421/Senate Bill 254 pass this legislative season, as many as 110,000 Floridians may lose access to a critical component of their health care.
Earlier this year, the Florida Board of Medicine and Board of Osteopathic Medicine ― both stacked with Gov. Ron DeSantis campaign donors who are motivated by politics and not science ― passed a restriction on best practice health care for transgender young people. Now, certain politicians want to put these dangerous restrictions into our state law. The proposed law would go even further and prohibit qualified nurse practitioners from prescribing medicine as well as ban all providers from using telehealth appointments to connect with patients. Threats of felony charges, revocation of licenses and red tape from the Boards are bound to deter physicians from providing health care to transgender young people at all.
Withholding age-appropriate health care for patients of any age, at any time, goes against the advice of every credible medical body, including the American Board of Pediatrics and the American Medical and Nursing Associations. We trust these organizations to provide guidance when children have cancer or diabetes, yet our legislators are swiftly making it illegal to follow the guidance of these experts when it comes to medicine for transgender kids.
Will they outlaw pediatric chemotherapy and insulin injections next? The proponents criticize and reject the science established by the most credible organizations and choose to solicit input from other sources that lack scientific credibility.
For teens who are already receiving gender-affirming care, the proposed law would force them to discontinue their medications this summer. These medications are essential and without these treatments, young people will be forced to undergo unwanted physical changes as well as face a significant decline in mental health. Could you imagine having a complete hormone swap, one that doesn’t align with your identity, during an already difficult time for adolescents; puberty?
For transgender youth, affirming their identity, aligning their hormone composition and avoiding the dysphoria of the incorrect puberty help ensure they are able to focus on their education and planning for their adult life; exactly what a teenager should be doing.
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This is a cruel and unconscionable unscientific experiment on young people’s bodies, even for a governor who has been called the type of guy who “might unplug your life support to recharge his cellphone.” Indeed, he’s now cutting off life-saving support for transgender young people in order to gain attention for his own political career. Studies show that two-thirds of trans teens experience depression and anxiety, and are four times as likely as their peers to attempt suicide. On the other hand, the health care that is about to be banned is proven to help reduce the risk of suicide and improve overall well-being.
My patients are terrified. Many families of transgender children are making plans to move out of state to be able to continue the medications that help them live authentic lives. These are engineers, small business owners, tourism workers and teachers who are being bullied and told their families don’t belong. These are hard-working, tax-paying Floridians who feel they have no choice but to uproot their careers and their lives for their kids’ safety and health.
Business leaders oppose these attacks too. Recently, the chambers of commerce from Brevard County, where I have an office, made its annual legislative visit to Tallahassee. Hundreds of the Space Coast’s—and the state’s— largest and most politically active businesses lobbied for bills that support workforce training, infrastructure improvements, and more. Not one advocated for attacking transgender adolescents. In fact, bills that discriminate against transgender people are expensive for states and bad for business.
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It’s clear that neither Florida families nor businesses are clamoring for these dangerous laws. Who is? Politicians and a handful of out-of-town extremists who are trying to gain more power and tell families how to live their lives. It should be noted that these extremists brought in to support the objectives of these politicians are the same individuals being “show ponied” in states across the country.
We have to fight back and protect families’ freedom to make personal health care decisions without government interference. This is not a decision that any of my patients nor their parents take lightly. Throughout the course of my career, I’ve helped thousands of families with transgender children and I know just how serious this process is and how unique it is for each family. It’s a lengthy and collaborative decision made by the patient along with their parents, their therapist or psychologist, and their health care provider. Sometimes friends, coworkers and extended family are also involved to help offer support. The people who should not be involved in this decision are politicians.
Please join me in urging Florida lawmakers to set aside this misguided political stunt. Listen to Florida businesses and parents when they tell you, there are plenty of other issues for you to work on. Leave medical treatment guidelines to the experts and let health care providers do what we do best — care for our patients and help all of Florida’s families raise healthy, happy adolescents.
Joseph Knoll is the Chief Executive Officer for SPEKTRUM Health, Inc.
This article originally appeared on Florida Today: Help me protect my patients from politicians.
