Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis signed Senate Bill 1580 that allows healthcare providers amd insurance companies to refuse treatment to any patient based on “conscience-based objection” based on “a sincerely held religious, moral, or ethical belief,” reports the Pensacola News Journal:
Republican lawmakers invoked their Christian beliefs to question the existence of transgender people and support bills that restricted their access to transition-related medical care.
Brandon Wolf, press secretary for Equality Florida, explained how the new law will be used to discriminate against LGBT people:
This bill is a broad license for health care providers and insurance companies to refuse services to people. No one should be denied access to medical care. It gives health care providers and insurance companies an unprecedented ‘religious’ or ‘moral’ right to refuse to provide services.
This puts patients in harm’s way, is antithetical to the job of health care providers, and puts the most vulnerable Floridians in danger. Our state should be in the business of increasing access to medical care, not giving providers and companies a sweeping carve out of nondiscrimination laws. Shame on the governor for putting Floridians’ health at risk to score cheap, political points.
(Source: Pensacola News Journal via Yahool)