Florida state Rep. Randy Fine plans to push legislation to make it felony child abuse to give minors gender reassignment surgery or drugs

Florida state Rep. Randy Fine said that he plans to push legislation to make it felony chid abuse to give kids drugs or surgeries for gender reassignment.

"I've had enough of this nonsense. Next session, I will help shepherd legislation to make it illegal to provide drugs or surgery to a minor for the purpose of alleged 'gender assignment.' The legislation will make it felony child abuse punishable by prison and loss of medical license. This legislation would not affect mental counseling," Fine, a Republican, declared on social media.

"If an adult wants to self-mutilate their body in pursuit of the fiction that they can defy both G-d and science, more power to them -- so long as they don't expect me to pay for it. But no child should be put in the position of making fundamentally life-altering decisions before they are of the age of majority," he noted. "I can call myself a porcupine, but that doesn't make it so. It is time for us to dispense with this fantasy -- one that is turning our women's sports into a joke and our schools into a cesspool."

Fine is up for re-election later this year, and the state's 2023 session won't commence until next year.

While many Floridians would likely support such legislation to protect kids, some state Democrats have already decried the proposal.

Democratic state Rep. Carlos Guillermo Smith said that Fine's proposal ought to "shock the conscience."

"Florida Republicans are on a dangerous course, retaliating against any person or business who expresses support for the LGBTQ+ community," Smith declared. "This latest threat to criminalize parents and doctors who provide life-saving care for LGBTQ youth should shock the conscience of all Floridians."

Democratic state Rep. Anna V. Eskamani called Fine's plan "dangerous" and said it would hurt "marginalized kids."