Judge upholds Ohio gender-affirming care ban; civil rights group promises immediate appeal

COLUMBUS, Ohio – An Ohio law limiting gender-affirming health care for young people under 18 can go into effect, a county judge ruled Tuesday.

The American Civil Liberties Union of Ohio said it will file an immediate appeal.

The law prohibits transgender surgeries and hormone therapies for minors unless they are already receiving such therapies and it is considered a risk to consult a doctor. The law also includes restrictions on the type of mental health services a minor can receive.

State lawmakers in January enacted the law, which also bans transgender athletes from participating in girls’ and women’s sports, after overturning a law veto by Republican governor Mike DeWine.

Franklin County Judge Michael Holbrook, in upholding the law, wrote that the ban “reasonably limits the rights of parents to make decisions about their children’s medical care consistent with the state’s deeply rooted legitimate interest in regulating the profession medicine and medical treatments”.

Groups challenging the law said it denies transgender youth health care and specifically discriminates against access. The suit also argued that combining the two bans violates Ohio’s single-subject rule for bills.

“This loss is not only devastating for our brave clients, but for the many transgender youth and their families across the state who are in need of this critical, life-saving health care,” said ACLU of Ohio Legal Director Freda Levenson.

Ohio Republican Attorney General Dave Yost’s office said in a statement that “this case has always been about the legislature’s authority to enact a law to protect our children from making irreversible medical and surgical decisions about their bodies.”

Ohio’s governor vetoed the law at the end of 2023 after traveling around the state visit children’s hospitals and talk to families of children with gender dysphoria. DeWine called his action thoughtful, limited and “pro-life” — citing the risks of suicide associated with not getting adequate treatment for gender dysphoria.

DeWine simultaneously announced plans to move administratively toward banning transgender surgeries until a person is 18 and to position the state to better regulate and monitor gender-affirming treatments in children and adults — a move he hoped would calm concerns from colleagues. Republicans who govern the Ohio Statehouse. But the administration retreated quickly this plan after transgender adults raised serious concerns about how state regulations could affect their lives and health.

Ohio lawmakers stood their ground on the bill after DeWine’s veto, easily overriding it and making Ohio the 23rd state at the time to ban gender-affirming health care for trans youth.