DeSantis’s administration has already allocated more than $875,000 for lawsuits this year alone. The Florida governor’s office hired the law firm Holtzman Vogel Baran Torchinsky & Josefiak to defend two laws blocking access to gender-affirming care. The government signed a contract with the firm in April for $400,000 to defend a law banning gender-affirming care for trans minors and restricting it for adults. Under that law, medical facilities could lose their license if they offered health care to trans or nonbinary children.
Federal Judge Robert Hinkle temporarily blocked the law in early June, citing multiple doctors who testified against the law that “denial of this treatment will cause needless suffering for a substantial number of patients and will increase anxiety, depression, and the risk of suicide.” The law is still making its way through the courts—and DeSantis may be forced to spend even more money defending it.
DeSantis also signed a contract with Holtzman Vogel for $300,000 to defend the Florida law prohibiting Medicaid from covering gender-affirming care. Hinkle struck down that law as well, ruling that it violated federal policies on Medicaid, equal protection, and the Affordable Care Act’s ban on discriminating based on sex. The state of Florida has appealed the ruling.