Emails pulled from Florida's public records system show a national anti-trans organization quietly feeding both bill language and a guest column to state lawmakers, raising fresh questions about who is really writing the rules in Tallahassee. The proposals would have expanded Florida's 2023 limits on gender-affirming care, making it a potential felony to "aid or abet" such care for minors and giving the attorney general new civil enforcement powers. The measures moved through committees but stalled without final votes when the 60-day legislative session wrapped up last Friday.
What the emails show
According to Orlando Weekly, the email trail shows a lobbyist tied to Do No Harm sending draft bill language to Rep. Lauren Melo's office in November 2025, then following up with talking points and a draft op-ed on Jan. 29. The outlet reports that it reviewed the messages, posted the documents to DocumentCloud, and that the op-ed later appeared word for word on Florida Politics under the bylines of Rep. Melo and Sen. Clay Yarborough. Taken together, the records point to the outside group as the source of both the policy text and the public messaging used to sell it.
Bills and where they landed
CS/CS/HB 743, titled "Prohibited Sex-reassignment Prescriptions and Procedures," was filed by Rep. Melo and advanced through three House committees before being placed on the Second Reading Calendar. The Florida House record shows it died there last Friday. Its companion in the upper chamber, Florida Senate bill CS/SB 1010, cleared one committee but never reached a final floor vote. Both bills would have increased criminal and civil liability for providers and for anyone who "aids or abets" gender-affirming care for minors.
The group's footprint
Do No Harm, founded in 2022 and expanded with a lobbying arm in 2023, has become a regular presence in statehouses around the country, the Associated Press has reported. The AP analysis found pieces of Do No Harm's model language in bills across multiple states and documented the group's testimony and lobbying efforts in several legislatures. That broader pattern helps explain how draft text developed in Washington could turn into a Florida bill with a Tallahassee file number.
Paper trail: drafts and placement
Documents posted to DocumentCloud show lobbyist Jorge Chamizo of Florida Partners emailing a draft op-ed to Melo's legislative aide on Jan. 29 and sharing draft bill language the previous November. The files include metadata that links Chamizo to both the opinion piece and the bill text, and the same documents appear to have been used to pitch the column to media outlets. The public records create a straight line from an outside lobbyist's keyboard to the proposed law and the promotional copy supporting it.
What the op-ed said
That phrase sits in sharp contrast with the positions of many major medical organizations, which have largely endorsed gender-affirming care as an evidence-based option for some transgender youth, as reported by The Washington Post. The gap between professional medical guidance and the bill's charged rhetoric is a key reason the email trail has drawn scrutiny.
Responses and what's next
Rep. Melo told Orlando Weekly that she remains "committed to creating real accountability for health care providers who willingly participate in these damaging procedures." With the legislative clock expiring last Friday, the bills never reached final votes this year. Even so, the public records are likely to keep the spotlight on how outside groups help draft policy in Florida, and advocates and health providers are expected to watch closely for similar or revived proposals in the next session.
Legal and enforcement details
The House bill's text and staff analysis laid out a scheme that would have made aiding or abetting gender-affirming care for a minor a third-degree felony in certain circumstances and would have authorized the attorney general to investigate and file civil actions seeking damages, injunctions, and penalties of up to 100,000 dollars. Opponents argued that those enforcement tools could chill medical practice and potentially expose not only clinicians but also family members and counselors to criminal risk. The official bill pages include the complete text and committee history.
Why it matters
Florida already has some of the strictest limits on gender-affirming care in the country, and advocates say these bill drafts show how quickly national organizations can ratchet those restrictions up. Tracking by KFF indicates that dozens of states have moved in recent years to restrict youth access to gender-affirming care, making this Tallahassee drafting fight part of a larger national trend. Whether the emails lead to new rules around outside bill drafting or simply fuel another round of political messaging, they have at least made the process a little more visible to the people living under the laws.
