The House is poised to ratchet up the battle over gender-affirming care by taking the highly unusual step of issuing subpoenas to two groups that support the treatment despite ongoing efforts by Florida officials to ban the practice for minors.
The House Health and Human Services Committee voted along party lines to ask House Speaker Paul Renner to subpoena the Florida Chapter of the American Academy of Pediatrics (FCAAP) and the Florida Psychiatric Society.
The decision was sparked by a letter that Renner sent to Rep. Randy Fine that questioned why the groups had come out in support of gender-affirming care, which can include the use of puberty blockers and surgery in some instances.
"Although these leading practitioners (and others) have sounded alarm bells regarding contemporary treatment of minors with gender dysphoria, organizations including FCAAP apparently maintain that there is medical consensus that 'gender-affirming care' is the appropriate treatment," Renner wrote.
"The foregoing (and other) indicia of widespread self-censorship in the medical profession suggest that the purported consensus may be little more than a mirage."
The subpoenas, which will be drawn up and written by Fine, would ask the groups to explain the rationale behind their stance on gender-affirming care.
"One would believe that if they have nothing to hide, they won't hesitate to provide that information," Fine said.
Fine added that he wasn't exactly sure when the subpoenas would go out, but he hoped that they would be issued within 24 hours and that legislators could get the information prior to the end of Session, although he added later that the information could be reviewed at a later date.
Democrats loudly objected to the proposal, which did not become public until the night before the Monday committee meeting. Democratic Rep. Kelly Skidmore called the entire push a "rush," while other Democrats questioned why they were launching an investigation after the House had already passed a bill banning gender-affirming care to minors.
Democrats also tried to ask for subpoenas of other organizations that supported the ban, but the Republican majority rejected that effort.
The move comes after the House last week passed legislation that would ban minors from receiving gender-affirming health care and place obstacles in the way of adults receiving the care. The House tagged its version of the gender-affirming care bill onto SB 254 and sent it back to the Senate to consider.
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