Florida approves bill that allows doctors the right to refuse to treat LGBTQ+ people
SB 1580/HB 1403. The Senate approved the legislation last week. It allows healthcare providers and insurers the right to refuse patients in line with their conscience.
It’s officially called the “Protections of Medical Conscience” Act.The legislation includes clarification stating healthcare providers cannot turn anyone away based on their “race, color, religion, sex, or national origin.”Notice what’s missing from that list?Yes, there’s nothing about sexual orientation or gender identity.
Democratic lawmakers pushed for amendments to include LGBTQ+ protections but they were all rejected in the Republican-majority House and Senate.During a heated debate on the issue, Democrat Anna Eskamani offered up potential ramifications.“A nurse could refuse to provide a doctor’s prescription for fertility drugs to a single woman or someone who identifies as a lesbian,” she said. “Nursing homes could refuse to provide elderly, transgender residents for their ongoing hormone treatment.”Fellow Democrat Michele Rayner-Goolsby, who is married to a woman, compared it to Jim Crow laws.“The sponsor of the bill purports that this bill doesn’t discriminate,” she said. “But listen, y’all.
I am old enough, I am Black enough, and I am queer enough, and I’m woman enough to know that the impact of this bill — and I would argue the very intent of this bill is to discriminate against folks.”We just voted on one of the most OFFENSIVE bills of the session, which allows doctors to discriminate in giving care to people due to a conscious objection.
