Tallahassee, Florida - A federal judge has ruled that Florida's law limiting gender-affirming care for transgender adults can remain in place as a court challenge proceeds.

US District Judge Robert Hinkle blocked the law's enforcement for minors, but said adults had not been able to prove they would suffer irreparable harm without an injunction.

The law, Senate Bill 254, was signed by Governor Ron DeSantis in May. It not only bans gender-affirming care for minors, but it also puts up significant hurdles for adults, requiring people above 18 to give their consent to treatment in person with a physician present.

In denying requests to temporarily block the law for adults, Hinkle wrote that the legislation does "not prohibit adults from obtaining treatments of the kind the plaintiffs seek."

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Nevertheless, opponents of the measure have argued that its provisions are damaging because many transgender adults have care prescribed by nurse practitioners or via telehealth.

Hinkle said that despite the difficulties, patients "may be able to obtain the treatment from others" and that some doctors' unwillingness to perform gender-affirming surgeries is not related "to anything a preliminary injunction would cure."

Hinkle said in his ruling that the likelihood of success in the case is "significantly lower" following an 11th Circuit Court of Appeals decision in August which allowed an Alabama law to take effect making it a felony for medical professionals to prescribe gender-affirming care to people under the age of 19. Doctors found in violation of the law could face up to a decade behind bars.

Plaintiffs and their attorneys are not giving up the fight, saying in a statement, "This case is far from over and we will continue to take every legal step to challenge this law that takes away Floridians' ability to make important decisions about their own lives and hands it over to the government instead."

"All of us who believe in fairness, science, and freedom must also keep fighting on every level to ensure people in Florida and across the country can live their lives free from draconian and unlawful attacks on their health and wellbeing."