TALLAHASSEE (CBSMiami) – Maintaining that the federal government’s medical establishment has failed at the most basic level when it comes to children and adolescents with gender dysphoria, state Surgeon General Joseph Ladapo said Florida’s health department has updated its guidance.
Gender dysphoria is a medical condition in which a person’s gender identity is different from the sex they were assigned at birth.
In a release, Ladapo said the department crafted this guidance using published and peer-reviewed data that calls into question the motives of the federal Health and Human Services.
“It was about injecting political ideology into the health of our children. Children experiencing gender dysphoria should be supported by family and seek counseling, not pushed into an irreversible decision before they reach 18,” he said in a statement.
Read: Florida Department Of Health Guidance For Treatment Of Gender DysphoriaIn Adolescents
According to the state’s health department, the current evidence does not support the use of puberty blockers, hormone treatments, or surgical procedures for children and adolescents.
The American Academy of Pediatrics said that hormone therapy and surgery are not the only methods of gender-affirming care available to children.
Medical associations including the American Psychological Association, American Medical Association, and the Pediatric Endocrine Society, have officially recognized the importance of gender-affirming care for minors.
According to the state health department’s updated guidance, 80 percent of those seeking clinical care will lose their desire to identify with the non-birth sex.
They note that puberty is important to brain development, “with the pre-frontal cortex (which is responsible for executive functions, such as decision making) continuing to develop until approximately 25 years of age.”
They add that hormone treatment or surgical procedures could have potentially irreversible consequences such as cardiovascular disease, infertility, increased cancer risk, and thrombosis.