Florida has become an even bigger medical care hellscape for some of its most vulnerable patients with its 2023 medical discrimination law.
As you read this, keep in mind that Florida’s Governor Ron DeSantis is running for President of the United States in 2024 and wants to make America like Florida.
In 2023, Ron DeSantis signed into law Senate Bill 1580, the “Protections of Medical Conscience.”
It shields from civil liability any healthcare provider that denies services or coverage for any medical treatment that they object to on moral or religious grounds.
The bill is vague and excludes discrimination only for particular categories known as protected categories that include race, color, religion, sex, and national origin, and also provides for exclusion in cases that fall under a federal law called the Emergency Medical Treatment and Labor Act.
Who’s Excluded and Not Protected
What is not protected in these categories is gender identity and sexuality. In fact, the Democratic Party House members tried to include verbiage that would expand the protected categories but failed. For example, Senator Berman in April 2023 attempted to have these categories included in the protected categories but failed.
The Florida House GOP voted to explicitly exclude these categories from those protected from discrimination in medical practices. The categories include pregnancy, age, disability, marital status, sexual orientation, or gender identity.
Insurance Companies Can Deny Coverage
What’s important is that this bill isn’t just a blanket authorization for medical professionals to deny care, it also expands that opportunity to insurance companies that can deny coverage.
So in the future in Florida, the fact that you are lucky enough to find a doctor who is willing to treat you may mean absolutely nothing when your insurance company is legally allowed to deny coverage. The scope of this law is incredibly broad. It defines a medical professional with just a broad brush.
Who Gets to Discriminate
It includes not just doctors but also nurses, lab technicians, pharmacists, nursing homes, people who drive ambulances, EMTs, and even administrative staff.
Anybody who is in some way connected to the process of medical care can now claim a moral exemption to a specific treatment. The terrifying thing is that this law could be used to deny the prescription of HIV medication, gender-affirming care, birth control for unmarried women, and even reproductive care.
What This Is Really About
This isn’t about religious freedom and it isn’t about moral freedom. It’s about discrimination and it’s about legalized harm to a specific segment of the population. This is a dangerous bill that will almost certainly lead to medical discrimination and might lead to illnesses and even death for Florida’s unwanted people.
Ron DeSantis signing this bill into law is an affront to freedom and equality, and every Florida lawmaker that sent it to his desk for signature is just as culpable as he is.
This is the Republican party. Purposefully destroying America and its people.