(Photo by Matt Hrkac; from Wikimedia Commons)
There may be yet another legislative tussle in 2026 over cultural flashpoints dealing with parental rights and gender-affirming care.
A Jacksonville Republican filed a bill Dec. 23 to broaden the power of Florida’s attorney general to investigate health care providers who allegedly violate Florida’s ban on gender-affirming care for minors as well as state and local government employees who violate the state’s “Parents’ Bill of Rights.”
Sen. Clay Yarborough’s bill, SB 1010, would amend the 2023 transgender care statute to make it illegal for a health care provider to aid or abet a minor in search of the care. Providers who help minors could face a third-degree felony. The draft doesn’t define “aid and abet.”
If the attorney general determines a health care provider violated the ban, the state’s top law enforcement officer could file a a civil suit against the practitioner, seeking penalties of up to $100,000 per violation. Any damages recovered would accrue to the benefit of the minor.
The attorney general would have to file the suit within two years of the investigation’s launch.
There is no companion measure in the House to date.
The bill empowers Florida’s attorney general — now James Uthmeier — to investigate alleged violations of the 2021 law establishing a “Parents’ Bill of Rights.”
Uthmeier, appointed to the position earlier this year by Gov. Ron DeSantis, has already made parental rights a focus. In April, Uthmeier announced creation of an Office of Parental Rights.
The 2021 law bans political subdivisions and other governmental entities from infringing upon the fundamental right of a parent to direct the upbringing, education, health care, and mental health of his or her minor child without demonstrating a compelling state interest.
SB 1010 amends the 2021 statute to allow the attorney general to investigate alleged violations and, within two years of the findings, file civil suits seeking penalties of up to $100,000 for each violation.
The bill creates a specific cause of action against health care practitioners and state and local government employees who violate the Parents’ Bill of Rights.
Specific to health care, the Parents’ Bill of Rights guarantees, unless prohibited by law, the right of parents to make health care decisions, to access and review all medical records of the minor child, and to consent in writing before any record of their child’s blood or DNA is created, stored, or shared.
Health care practitioners who violate the existing law now only face disciplinary action.
Protections for political and ideological beliefs in school
Another Yarborough bill filed Tuesday would amend state law protecting religious liberty in school to include students who express political or ideological beliefs and the school clubs they belong to.
The bill would allow a school district to prohibit, limit, and restrict expression that the First Amendment does not protect. The districts also could limit expression that is “unwelcome, and so severe, pervasive, and subjectively and objectively offensive, that a student is effectively denied equal access to educational opportunities or benefits provided by the school.”
Any student group or club or student whose rights are violated could sue the school district for declaratory and injunctive relief, statutory punitive damages, reasonable attorney fees, and costs. The bill would provide punitive damages between $15,000 and $25,000 for the student or student club if they prevail.
HB 835 is the House companion bill. It was filed by Miami Republican Rep. David Borrero.
This story is courtesy of Florida Phoenix.
Florida Phoenix is a nonprofit news site, free of advertising and free to readers, covering state government and politics with a staff of five journalists located at the Florida Press Center in downtown Tallahassee. Florida Phoenix is part of States Newsroom, the nation’s largest state-focused nonprofit news organization.
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