Are you a doctor who hates treating gay people? Come to Florida, where Ron DeSantis has legalised bigotry | Arwa Mahdawi

The sunshine state's healthcare professionals will soon be able to deny treatment on religious or moral grounds. Thanks a bunch, governor

You know what I love about living in the US? Freedom! You can choose between multiple overpriced insurance companies to provide you with healthcare, for example. The healthcare companies, in turn, can seemingly charge you whatever they like for their services. If they want to charge you $1,500 (1,200) for some toenail fungus cream, that is their prerogative. That's freedom, baby.

As if this wasn't glorious enough, the healthcare system in Florida has just had a new layer of freedom added to it. On 1 July, a new law goes into effect that means a doctor can look a potential patient up and down, decide they are giving off homosexual vibes and refuse to treat them because interacting with gay people goes against their personal beliefs. The doctor will not face any repercussions for denying care and has no obligation to refer the patient elsewhere.

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