A panel of judges for the Ohio Tenth District Court of Appeals has ruled that gender-affirming care for minors is an essential medical treatment for trans youth, deeming a state ban unconstitutional.
The current case was brought by two families of trans youth represented by the ACLU of Ohio after the GOP introduced a bill amendment meant to undermine Obamacare. That amendment was being used to prevent essential healthcare, according to LGBTQ Nation.
The ban on gender-affirming care swept through Ohio in January of 2024 after legislators approved a bill that banned hospitals from providing gender-affirming care to minors, and barred trans girls from participating in girls’ sports.
After this legislation was passed, an Ohio judge imposed a two-week block on gender-affirming care bans, but later reversed his decision, upholding the ban.
Gov. Mike DeWine attempted to veto the bill saying “Were I to sign House Bill 68, or were House Bill 68 to become law, Ohio would be saying that the state, that the government knows beter what is medically best for a child than the two people who love that child the most: their parents.”
However, according to LGBTQ Nation, DeWine also signed an executive order banning hospitals from performing “gender-affirming surgeries on minors.”
Though the Trump Administration is blowing through one executive order after another to strip Americans from their basic rights and destroy federal systems like the Department of Education, groups like the ACLU of Ohio are still fighting for LGBTQ+ protections.
ACLU Ohio legal director Freda Levenson said of the court decision “This win restores the right of trans youth in Ohio to choose vitally important health care, with the support of their families and physicians. We are gratified by the Court’s decision, which soundly rejects this interference of politicians with Ohioans’ bodily autonomy. Although this litigation will likely not end here, we remain fervently committed to preventing this egregious bill from ever again taking effect.”
She went on to say: “The path towards protecting the rights and civil liberties of trans Ohioans goes on, and we will continue to hold the torch.”
