Florida's transgender affirming care ban is now law. Here's what SB 254 does:

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis signed a new bill into law Wednesday that restricts gender-affirming care for transgender adults and children.

Critics of the bill, SB 254, refer to it as the Florida “abduction” bill because they claim it allows children to be “legally kidnapped” by disagreeing parents — even if the opposing parent lives across state lines — if the child is subject to or “threatened” with sex-reassignment prescriptions or procedures.

Senator Clay Yarborough, who introduced the bill, said the bill is meant to protect children from “drastic life-altering gender dysphoria therapies and surgeries” that he said are being prescribed for children. He argued that both parents should have a say in whether their child receives gender-affirming care.

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The Tallahassee Democrat reported that while the legislation was not as wide-reaching as House members wanted it to be, it will still restrict care for both transgender children and adults. Along with the ban for new youth patients, the bill requires that a physician administer gender affirming care to adult patients in person, barring the use of telehealth and other health care workers, like nurse practitioners and physicians' assistants, to begin care. Doctors who violate those sections could face a first-degree misdemeanor.

Gender-affirming care for youth has support from nearly every mainstream medical organization, including the American Academy of Pediatrics, the World Health Organization, the Endocrine Society and the American Psychiatric Association. Politifact has determined that while the state cannot kidnap children, the law can affect custody disputes.

LGBTQ advocacy groups said last week they plan to ask a judge to block the law as part of an ongoing lawsuit against the Board of Medicine ban.

Here’s a breakdown of what’s in the bill:

Florida courts can receive temporary emergency jurisdiction

The bill would grant Florida courts temporary emergency jurisdiction if a child present in the state has been abandoned; it’s deemed necessary if the child, a sibling or the parent of a child is subjected to or “threatened” with mistreatment or abuse; or if the child is subjected to or “threatened” with sex-reassignment prescriptions or procedures.

Parents can apply for a warrant to receive physical custody of a child

Section 2 of the bill allows parents to file a petition seeking enforcement of a child custody determination. If a parent believes that their child is likely to “imminently suffer serious physical harm or removal of the state,” they can file a verified issuance of a warrant to take physical custody of the child.

The section explicitly states that serious physical harm “includes, but is not limited to,” being subjected to sex-reassignment prescriptions and procedures.

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State funds are prohibited from being used for gender-affirming care

Another section of the bill prohibits any “governmental entity” from expending state funds for sex-reassignment prescriptions or procedures.

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People under 18 can no longer receive gender-affirming care unless they qualify for an exception

Section 5 of the bill prohibits sex-reassignment prescriptions and procedures for patients younger than 18 years old. The Board of Medicine and the Board of Osteopathic Medicine will have 60 days to adopt emergency rules pertaining to standards of practice where a minor could continue to be treated with a prescription consistent with those defined in Florida Statute 456.001.

That transition-related medical care includes puberty blockers, hormones and surgery. Despite claims by DeSantis that medical care amounts to child mutilation, gender-affirmation surgery is generally only recommended for adults. For children, care doesn't begin until the onset of puberty.

Physicians must be in the room with adults receiving gender-affirming care, barring the use of telehealth services

The same section also requires that physicians prescribing, administering a pharmaceutical product or performing a procedure must be, at minimum, physically present in the same room as the patient.

Further restrictions require that only physicians can administer and perform these procedures, barring other health care workers, like nurse practitioners and physicians' assistants, to begin care.

The Tallahassee Democrat reported that at least one Florida clinic that provides gender-affirming care is staffed only by nurse practitioners, leaving care for those patients uncertain under the bill. SPEKTRUM Health serves patients in Central Florida with locations in Orlando and Melbourne.

"Absolutely gutted," CEO Joey Knoll told the Democrat on Thursday. "I've spent the last year trying to raise awareness, get help, and avoid a catastrophe ... that is now imminent."