Florida Republican Governor Ron DeSantis slammed President Joe Biden for claiming this week that it was “close to sinful” for states to block minors’ access to medical treatments and procedures that can have devastating permanent effects on children.
Biden made the remarks during an interview with Democrat Kal Penn on Comedy Central’s “The Daily Show” while talking about how Republican-led states, especially Florida, are working to protect children from the so-called “gender-affirming care.”
“It is not ‘sinful’ to prohibit the mutilation of minors,” DeSantis said. “It is not acceptable for the federal government to mandate that procedures like sex change operations be allowed for kids.”
It is not "sinful" to prohibit the mutilation of minors.
It is not acceptable for the federal government to mandate that procedures like sex change operations be allowed for kids. https://t.co/YhPrrU5Poi
— Ron DeSantis (@GovRonDeSantis) March 14, 2023
Biden said that the issue of “gender-affirming care” is “harder” when it involves children, but claimed that legislation should prevent states from interfering.
“Transgender kids is really a harder thing,” he said. “What’s going on in Florida is, as my mother would say, close to sinful.”
“It’s terrible what they’re doing. It’s not like a kid wakes up one morning and says, ‘You know, I decided I want to become a man’ or ‘I want to become a woman’ or ‘I want to change,’” Biden continued. “What are they thinking about here? They are human beings. They love. They have feelings. They have inclinations that are. … It just, to me, is, I don’t know is, it’s cruel.”
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The president went on to suggest legislation as a means to stop states from acting on the issue, arguing that the federal government should “make sure we pass legislation like we passed with same-sex marriage. You mess with that, you’re breaking the law and you’re going to be held accountable.”
As for “what’s going on in Florida” — the efforts Biden was objecting to — state medical boards voted last November to ban transgender surgeries, puberty blockers, and cross-sex hormones for minors. In addition, the Florida Senate filed a bill in February that would hold businesses responsible for the costs associated with detransitioning — if they had initially covered the medical costs related to the transition.