Two Vague Florida Bills Seek to Felonize Giving Gender-Affirming Care to Trans Kidshttps://www.them.us/story/two-vague-florida-bills-seek-to-felonize-giving-gender-affirming-care-to-trans-kids 🔗Samantha Riedel (28 Jan 2026)
Florida lawmakers advanced two bills in the past week that together would make it a felony for medical providers or state employees to "aid or abet" gender-affirming care for transgender youth, as well as moving along a third bill which could limit LGBTQ+ young people from accessing mental health hotlines and other crisis services.
Both HB 743 and SB 1010 would allow third-degree felony charges to be filed against any medical practitioner "who aids or abets another" in the provision of gender-affirming care (termed "sex-reassignment prescriptions and procedures" under existing state law) for a patient under 18 years old. The Senate bill would also allow for civil liability claims to be brought against those medical providers as well as any state employees said to have violated Florida's "parental rights" law, better known as "Don't Say Gay," with potential fines of "up to $100,000 for each violation."
Neither bill defines what would constitute "aiding and abetting" in the context of gender-affirming care. The Senate bill would allow the state attorney general's office to pursue charges up to two years after an alleged violation.
SB 1010 was approved by the Senate committee for Children, Families, and Elder Affairs on January 20 in a 5-1 vote, and is now under review by the Health Policy committee. Likewise, HB 743 was marked "favorable" by the House Criminal Justice Subcommittee the same day by a vote of 12-5.
