Judge puts short-term pause on Ohio's HB 68 prior to effective date

Table Of Content

• Bill Text: OH HB68 2023-2024 135th General Assembly Enrolled
• AG Yost Asks Ohio Supreme Court to Narrow ‘Unlawful’ Injunction on HB 68
• Ohio House Bill 6 (Prior Session Legislation)
• Most Viewed Ohio Bills
• OH HB68 2023-2024 135th General Assembly
• How easy is it right now to get a prescription for puberty blockers or hormone therapy?

The bill now heads to the desk of Ohio’s governor, Mike DeWine, a Republican with a mixed record on LGBTQ+ rights. DeWine previously indicated that he would not support legislation that blocks trans women and girls from participating in female sports. In a letter to DeWine, several health care organizations said doctors already get parental consent and don't recommend gender transition surgery for minors. Mental health treatment is also key to ensuring that patients and their families are certain about diagnoses of gender dysphoria before undergoing treatment, McLoney said. While therapists can help minors seek treatment for gender dysphoria, they can also simply offer support to anyone questioning their gender without seeking a diagnosis, he said. Some proponents of House Bill 68 have raised concerns that many patients, especially those who are treated for gender dysphoria as minors, may regret undergoing treatment.

Ohio, our home, has failed us: An opinion on House Bill 68 and other proposed anti-LGBTQ laws • Ohio Capital Journal - Ohio Capital Journal

Ohio, our home, has failed us: An opinion on House Bill 68 and other proposed anti-LGBTQ laws • Ohio Capital Journal.

Posted: Thu, 18 Jan 2024 08:00:00 GMT [source]

Bill Text: OH HB68 2023-2024 135th General Assembly Enrolled

"Simply put, this bill takes away parental rights and will harm Ohio kids." Still, the veto delivered a victory to transgender Ohioans, advocates and medical providers who spoke out against the legislation and urged DeWine to reject it. In the debate surrounding the bill, different stakeholders have cited different numbers on how many transgender youths transition back to their gender assigned at birth later in life. Some of the discussion about House Bill 68 has revolved around some politicians’ concerns about the dangers of gender reassignment surgery.

AG Yost Asks Ohio Supreme Court to Narrow ‘Unlawful’ Injunction on HB 68

Rep. Click and other sources maintain that between 85 and 95% of people who experience gender dysphoria in adolescence come to naturally identify with their sex assigned at birth by adulthood. More broadly, the ACLU of Ohio is arguing that HB 68 goes against the Ohio Constitution by breaking a single-subject rule for legislation and discriminating against trans minors, among other claims. Last June, two individual proposals become one when the Ohio House folded House Bill 6, the single-sex athletics requirement, into HB 68. The state attorney argues that the injunction is unlawful because it applies to the entire state and not just the two plaintiffs who challenged the law on March 26.

Ohio House Bill 6 (Prior Session Legislation)

Clark said doctors don’t have the power to wholly self-regulate, under the Health Care Freedom Act or other laws. “In one medical situation, maybe you’ll get steroids, in a different situation it may not be okay. Earlier this year, the Ohio house received more than 600 written testimonies from people who oppose the ban on gender-affirming care, compared with just 56 in support of the legislation. "To advance this measure, supporters have demonized providers and parents alike and pushed misinformation in order to deny care to an incredibly small number of Ohio children," they wrote.

Most Viewed Ohio Bills

The legislation in question blocks trans minors from access to gender-affirming care and from participating in girls’ athletics. HB 68 also bars physicians from prescribing hormones and puberty blockers to minors and creates penalties for those who do. The bill also mandates that K-12 and collegiate teams in Ohio be “single-sex” and enables athletes to bring forth civil lawsuits against any institution that violates that mandate.

If House Bill 68 is passed, it will become impossible for Ohio youth to legally access hormone therapy or puberty blockers, forcing current patients to either detransition or seek medical care in other states. Gender-affirming care is an umbrella term used by some medical professionals for many types of health care that can help recognize people’s gender identities. This can include therapy and other mental health services, the use of medication treatments, or surgery. House Bill 68 would ban therapists from diagnosing or treating minors with gender dysphoria without parental consent, and would prohibit the use of puberty blockers and hormone therapy for minors. The bill does not include an exception for minors who have already started treatment, meaning they would have to leave the state to seek health care. The lawsuit was filed on behalf of two families whose 12-year-old transgender daughters would lose access to gender-affirming health care.

Ohio lawmakers to return to session early, saying top priority is overriding veto of House Bill 68 - WLWT Cincinnati

Ohio lawmakers to return to session early, saying top priority is overriding veto of House Bill 68.

Posted: Thu, 04 Jan 2024 08:00:00 GMT [source]

One to ban gender-affirming healthcare for minors and another one to ban transgender women from playing on women’s sport teams. A Franklin County judge has again blocked a state law that would ban gender transition treatment for minors and would stop trans athletes from competing in girls' sports. The bill could also require mental health professionals to screen all patients for ADHD and autism before considering a diagnosis of gender dysphoria. Timelines for treatment regimens vary from patient to patient, Vaughn said. For this reason, Vaughn said most patients start with puberty blockers and may begin hormone therapy later in their adolescence, depending on decisions made by the patient, their family and their medical care team. The ACLU of Ohio filed a lawsuit in the Franklin County Court of Common Pleas on March 26 against the part of the law that prohibits gender-affirming care for transgender youth.

Ohio Attorney General Dave Yost files emergency motion with Ohio Supreme Court on House Bill 68

As the bill moves to the Senate, The Dispatch spoke with local health experts to answer questions about gender-affirming health care. We will fight vigorously to defend this properly enacted statute, which protects our children from irrevocable adult decisions,” he wrote. In his court motion, Yost said that Holbrook acted beyond the scope of his power when placing the ban.

How easy is it right now to get a prescription for puberty blockers or hormone therapy?

It says HB 68 violates four sections of the Ohio Constitution — the single-subject rule, the Health Care provision, the Equal Protection Clause, and the Due Course of Law provision. HB 68 was amended to allow trans children who had already begun puberty blockers or hormones before the law’s enactment to continue on those medications. This is a younger baseline than was used in previous WPATH standards of care, and drew some criticism last year. Other WPATH criteria for adolescent surgery include sustained evidence of gender dysphoria and more tha 12 months of hormone therapy. According to Nick Lashutka, president of the Ohio Children's Hospital Association, children’s hospitals across the state have a “rigorous multidisciplinary team” that works with patients and families who report experiencing gender dysphoria. Ohio Attorney General Dave Yost filed an emergency motion with the Ohio Supreme Court Monday in an attempt to stop a temporary restraining order against Ohio’s gender-affirming care ban for trans youth.

The bill has a grandfather clause that allows doctors to continue treatment on patients that have already started. If DeWine signs the bill into law, Ohio will join the growing list of states that have severely restricted the resources offered to transgender children. As of November, more than one-third of all US trans youth live in a state that restricts or prohibits access to gender-affirming care. Kansas, North Dakota and Wyoming this year passed laws restricting transgender student athletes’ ability to participate in sports. Gov. Mike DeWine on Friday struck down legislation that would have banned transgender girls from female sports and restricted the medical care of transgender minors.

The bill passed the House and Senate with a supermajority, meaning lawmakers could mobilize enough support to override DeWine's veto. The analysis of the bill cited a rise in recent referrals for children to have genital and nongenital reassignment surgeries as a concern for lawmakers. Legislators on both sides of the aisle have also acknowledged that there is little research on the long-term impacts of hormone therapy, increasing the potential risks for adolescents undergoing such treatment. In recent months, a wave of proposed state laws has placed Ohio at the center of a national debate on LGBTQ+ rights.

Gender dysphoria is a medical condition that people experience when their sex assigned at birth does not align with their gender identity — their psychological sense of their gender. Among them is a bill approved by the Ohio House on June 21 that could severely limit access to medical treatment for transgender or questioning minors. Clark said doctors don't have the power to wholly self-regulate, under the Health Care Freedom Act or other laws. “In one medical situation, maybe you'll get steroids, in a different situation it may not be okay. But ACLU of Ohio Legal Director Freda Levenson argued Friday that without immediate enjoinment of the soon-to-be law, transition treatments will pause statewide—including for the two girls in the suit, whose identities have been concealed. “One judge from one county does not have more power than the governor’s veto pen,” Yost said in a statement.

A 2022 study from the American Academy of Pediatrics found 94% of youth maintained their gender identity five years after their social transition. According to the World Professional Association of Transgender Health, reproductive issues — including infertility — are a major risk of hormone therapy that must be discussed with all patients. Other risks, which Vaughn said are often minimal, do persist and should be considered before starting treatment. These treatments aim to spur the development of male secondary sex characteristics in trans men, or female secondary sex characteristics in trans women. “One judge from one county does not have more power than the governor’s veto pen,” Yost said about the injunction in the case.

House Bill 68, which cleared the House and Senate earlier this month, would have prevented doctors from prescribing hormones, puberty blockers or gender reassignment surgery before patients turn 18. It also would have prohibited transgender girls and women from playing on female sports teams in high school and college. The law would block access to gender-affirming care for minors, and would also ban trans athletes from participating in girls' sports. It also stops doctors from prescribing hormones and puberty blockers to minors.

“There are no surgeons who are doing genital surgeries on children at all, anywhere in the United States,” Vaughn said. Studies show that there are no known irreversible impacts of puberty blockers. “The sad truth is that the plaintiffs will also suffer immediate, very palpable harms,” she said in court Friday.

Most health care providers, including Ohio State University's Wexner Medical Center, follow the WPATH standards of care. Currently, the University Hospitals system in Cleveland requires patients to be 18 before considering gender reassignment surgery. Planned Parenthood of Greater Ohio also requires patients to be 18 before starting hormone therapy.