Equality Florida and HRC Speak Out Against Florida’s ‘Protections of Medical Conscience’ Bill

More controversy is coming out of the governor’s office in Florida; this time with a questionable policy that allows for healthcare providers and insurance companies to discriminate based on religious, moral, or ethical reasons. The republican governor signed SB 1580, the ‘Protections of Medical Conscience’ bill last week, with the policy receiving criticism from those in the queer communities as well as those practicing medical professionals.

Equality Florida, a state LGBTQ nonprofit for equality, says the bill creates the “license to discriminate” and is unethical. Medical professionals all over the country say that the policy directly violates the Hippocratic Oath that they take as part of their practice. LGBTQ citizens in Florida are concerned that this new policy will allow medical establishments and professionals to deny care to queer people.

The language in SB 1580 also gives healthcare employers the right to discriminate when hiring and prohibits medical boards from disciplining medical professionals for disseminating misinformation. With the controversial Surgeon General Joseph Ladapo standing alongside DeSantis as he signed the policy into law, DeSantis says, “These expanded protections will help ensure that medical authoritarianism does not take root in Florida.”

Brandon Wolf, Equality Florida’s press secretary says, “This puts patients in harm’s way, is antithetical to the job of healthcare providers, and puts the most vulnerable Floridians in danger,” in response to the controversial legislation.

In the case of Tyra Hunter (1970-1995), a Black transgender woman, medical discrimination was found to be the cause of death when Tyra was involved in a car accident and first responders on the scene refused to provide medical care. In another case involving a trans man, Robert Eads, 20 separate doctors refused to treat him for ovarian cancer in another act of medical negligence attributed to “moral objections”. Opponents of the new DeSantis legislation say that this bill could cause more unwarranted deaths like these in the queer community due to medical discrimination and negligence.

The Human Rights Campaign (HRC) is also speaking out against the bill. HRC’s legal director Sarah Warbelow says, “Personal beliefs should not be wielded as a sword to deny critical medical care. The Human Rights Campaign strongly condemns Governor DeSantis for signing this dangerous bill.”

According to a recent poll presented by the HRC, “likely voters across all political parties look at GOP efforts to flood state legislatures with anti-LGBTQ legislation as political theater.” Of likely voters polled, 72% of Democrats, 65% of Independents, and 55% of Republicans think that there is “too much legislation” aimed at “limiting the rights of transgender and gay people in America”. In contrast, since 2022, politicians in statehouses all over the United States have introduced more than 500 anti-LGBTQ bills, 48 of which have been enacted into law.

Under DeSantis, Equality Florida has also released an “unprecedented” travel warning for LGBTQ people who may be visiting the state, because of the safety, freedom, and health risks posed to queer people under this current legislation.

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