Florida Governor Ron DeSantis (R) has sharply criticized what he calls judicial activism by leftist judges who frequently strike down newly enacted Florida laws, only for their decisions to be overturned by higher courts. DeSantis voiced his frustration on Wednesday following federal Judge Robert Hinkle’s decision in Tallahassee to invalidate a new Florida law designed to protect minors from transgender procedures and treatments.
In a passionate statement, DeSantis highlighted the absurdity of allowing minors to undergo such irreversible procedures. “It is wrong to perform a sex change on a 16-year-old. You’re not allowed to get a tattoo, but somehow you can have your privates cut off? Give me a break,” he declared. DeSantis emphasized that this issue had already been addressed by the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals, which upheld a similar law in Alabama. “This will be reversed. There’s no question it’ll be reversed,” he asserted confidently.
DeSantis argued that the founding fathers, when drafting the Constitution and the Bill of Rights, as well as those who passed the Reconstruction Amendments in the 1860s, never intended to establish a constitutional right to what he termed “genital mutilation.” He stated, “Of course, a state can protect children against this. And we have very powerful testimony on how this is irreversible.”
The governor expressed his frustration with what he sees as a pattern of liberal judges overriding the will of the people in Florida. “Leftist judges veto the policy of the state of Florida constantly. We lose almost every time and then we win on appeal almost every time. That’s what happens,” he said.
DeSantis emphasized the importance of defending Florida’s laws against what he described as liberal jurisprudence. “If you’re not willing to defend Florida’s duly enacted statutes against liberal jurisprudence, then you’re basically saying the people of Florida shouldn’t govern themselves,” he remarked. He vowed to stand up for the state’s laws and protect the innocence of children, condemning those who profit from these procedures without regard for the long-term consequences faced by the affected teenagers.
“But I would say it goes beyond that,” DeSantis continued. “When they’re doing a sex change on a teenager, there’s a lot of people that want to make money off that, consequences be damned. They’re lining their pockets and they could care less about what’s going to happen to that teenager when they become 25 — which many regret and have big time problems as a result of that.”
DeSantis also took aim at the terminology used by the media and left-leaning activists. “You use the term ‘gender affirming care’, which is what media uses and what the left uses. You’re not affirming that, you’re trying to change their basic biology, which you cannot do. You cannot do that. You know, how you’re born is what you are,” he stated. He argued that society must be rooted in truth, and that the surgeries in question cannot truly transform a male into a female.
In his closing remarks, DeSantis reiterated his belief that the appeal would be successful. “We’ll win that appeal,” he concluded.
Governor DeSantis’s comments underscore a broader debate about the role of judges in shaping public policy and the extent to which states can regulate medical procedures for minors. His remarks are likely to resonate with his supporters and further polarize opinions on this contentious issue.
