COLUMBUS, Ohio — An Ohio law restricting gender-affirming health care for youth under 18 can go into effect, a district judge ruled Tuesday.
The American Civil Liberties Union of Ohio announced that it would immediately appeal.
The law prohibits transgender surgery and hormone therapy for minors unless they are already receiving such therapy and a doctor deems it risky to stop it. The law also includes restrictions on the type of mental health care minors can receive.
In January, state lawmakers passed the bill, which also bans transgender athletes from participating in girls’ and women’s sports, after overriding a veto by Republican Governor Mike DeWine.
Franklin County Judge Michael Holbrook upheld the law, saying the ban “appropriately limits the right of parents to make decisions about the medical care of their children, consistent with the state’s deep-seated legitimate interest in regulating the medical profession and medical treatments.”
The groups challenging the law said it denies transgender youth health care and explicitly discriminates against them in accessing it. The lawsuit also argued that combining the two bans violates Ohio’s single-subject rule for bills.
“This loss is devastating not only for our brave clients, but also for the many transgender youth and their families across the state who need this critical, life-saving health care,” said Freda Levenson, legal director of the ACLU of Ohio.
The office of Ohio Republican Attorney General Dave Yost said in a statement: “This case has always been about the legislature’s power to enact a law to protect our children from making irreversible medical and surgical decisions about their bodies.”
Ohio’s governor vetoed the bill in late 2023 after traveling around the state to visit children’s hospitals and speak to families of children with gender dysphoria. DeWine called his action well-considered, limited and “pro-life” – citing the suicide risks associated with not adequately treating gender dysphoria.
DeWine simultaneously announced plans to administratively ban transgender surgery until age 18 and give the state the ability to better regulate and track gender reassignment surgery for children and adults – a move he hoped would allay concerns from his Republican colleagues in the Ohio Statehouse. But the administration quickly backed away from that plan after transgender adults raised serious concerns about how state regulations could affect their lives and health.
Ohio lawmakers stuck with the bill even after DeWine’s veto, easily overriding it and making Ohio the 23rd state to ban gender-affirming health care for transgender youth.
