In Florida, Republican state Senator Blaise Ingoglia from Spring Hill filed a bill Monday requiring businesses that pay for employees to travel to other states for sex transition surgeries to also pay for future transition reversal surgeries.
According to Florida's Voice, the "Reverse Woke Act" bill sponsored by Senator Ingoglia requires employers to pay for the transition reversal surgeries if they want one, regardless if the employee is or is not working for the company.
In a press statement, Ingoglia explained that woke companies "need to be held accountable when offering to pay for gender-affirming surgeries in other states, such as California, because they are nothing more than political decisions masquerading as healthcare and human resource decisions."
Ingoglia noted that around 27 companies have promised to pay for travel and transitioning surgeries for Floridians in other states.
Should the law pass, employers would be subject to civil action lawsuits for damages if the employer pays the costs for transitioning surgeries but does not pay for the reverse operation.
"Floridians should not be used as political pawns to advance a leftist agenda for the Governor of California. If these companies truly cared about their employees, this should be a no-brainer for them," explained Ingoglia.
In early February this year, Medical Boards in Florida approved a rule to prevent minors from receiving life-changing puberty blockers, cross-sex hormones, and surgeries to treat gender dysphoria.
Last year, the Florida State Department of Health suggested against gender transitions for minors, highlighting an interview from Chole Cole, a former transgender individual treated with puberty blockers and testosterone at age 13 for gender dysphoria.
Cole has been open about her decision, speaking against the treatments and surgeries in several hearings, rallies, and interviews. These same individuals have shared their stories with Florida's Board of Medicine and the Board of Osteopathic Medicine committee after de-transitioning to their original sex.
Opponents of the bill argue that gender-affirming surgery and treatments should be between the doctor and patient not the state.
These opponents also argued that the treatments prevent people from committing suicide. At the beginning of 2023, Florida Republican Governor Ron DeSantis said he would work with the state legislators to pass a bill preventing doctors from performing sex change surgeries on minors in the state.
"We actually have very, you know, young adults who went through this when they were minors, and they're saying this was a huge mistake," DeSantis said at the beginning of the year. The Florida Governor also explained that it is "not evidence-based" when discussing "sex changes and puberty blockers."
Governor DeSantis also indicated that doctors seeking to perform such activities on minors would lose their medical licenses.
Despite criticism from progressive politicians inside Florida and other states, many Floridians approve of the Governor's decision to prevent harmful life-altering sex change surgeries and treatments on young children.
In other Republican-controlled states, state legislators and governors are also looking at ways to ban sex change transition surgeries, cracking down on woke-centered medical practices that have impacted young Americans.
The news from Florida also comes as outlets like The Washington Stand reported that the Washington University Transgender Center at the St. Louis Children's Hospital is under several investigations for harming teenagers and potentially defrauding taxpayers and is continuing its services, with emails showing employees advising a local school to "affirm" fifth-grade girls who identify as males.
According to the emails, the clinic recommended that the elementary school provide "support and discussion as possible around their gender exploration" because several preteens may go along with the gender-changing procedure." "If in a few weeks or months, a student wants to go by their legal name and pronouns that match their sex assigned at birth, no harm was really done in affirming them before," an employee said.
Related Story: Republicans Introduce Bills to Protect Minors Who Undergo Gender-Transition Procedures
