Ohios HB 68 is a tale of political maneuvering, veto battles, and transgender rights: Leslie Kouba

Table Of Content

• Ohio governor urged to use veto after anti-trans bill approved by legislature
• How easy is it right now to get a prescription for puberty blockers or hormone therapy?
• What are puberty blockers?
• Most viewed
• Ohio House Bill 6 (Prior Session Legislation)
• Ohio’s HB 68 is a tale of political maneuvering, veto battles, and transgender rights: Leslie Kouba

The bill, HB 68, prohibits doctors from providing gender-affirming care to trans youths. It also blocks transgender female student athletes from participating in girls’ sports. Opponents and health care providers say the bill threatens some forms of treatment that are often considered medically necessary for transgender youth. Some say that parts of the act demonstrate a misunderstanding of what treatment options actually look like for minors. Filed by the ACLU in March, the original lawsuit seeks to block HB 68 from going into effect on schedule and at all. It is on behalf of two 12-year-old transgender Ohio girls and their families, one from Hamilton County and one from Franklin County, and argues they would lose “critical, medically necessary health care” under HB 68.

Ohio governor urged to use veto after anti-trans bill approved by legislature

Judge extends temporary block on Ohio House Bill 68 - 10TV

Judge extends temporary block on Ohio House Bill 68.

Posted: Tue, 30 Apr 2024 18:47:00 GMT [source]

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.

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

Yost argues in his 36-page motion that Holbrook’s injunction is illegal since it applies to the whole state, not just the two plaintiffs. The legislation had been vetoed by Gov. Mike DeWine in December, but Republican lawmakers overrode his veto in January. In May, the Ohio Capital Journal resurfaced a 2018 sermon given by Click, a pastor at the Fremont Baptist church. In the video, titled The Value of Family, Click criticized a California law banning conversion therapy for LGBTQ+ people. Despite objections from Democrats on the senate floor, the Ohio Republican party maintained that the bill would protect the health and safety of the state’s children. “Kids can’t even get an appointment, any kind of appointment, at any clinic or children’s hospital in Ohio without a parent’s permission,” Bolling told the Guardian.

What are puberty blockers?

And it requires K-12 and collegiate teams in Ohio be “single-sex” and allows athletes to sue any institution that violates that mandate. DeWine's decision came after he visited children's hospitals, spoke with families and reviewed testimony for and against the legislation. He said his administration will draft rules to ban surgery for patients under 18, collect data on transgender medical care and restrict pop-up clinics that don't provide adequate mental health counseling. House Bill 68, which was set to go into effect on Wednesday, bans gender-affirming surgeries and hormone therapies, and restricts mental health care for transgender individuals under 18. The measure also bans transgender girls and women from girls and women’s sports teams at both the K-12 and collegiate levels.

Most viewed

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.

OH HB68 2023-2024 135th General Assembly

The material on this site may not be reproduced, distributed, transmitted, cached or otherwise used, except with the prior written permission of Advance Local. The post Ohio Attorney General Dave Yost files emergency motion with Ohio Supreme Court on House Bill 68 appeared first on Ohio Capital Journal. Republican Attorney General Dave Yost, who is defending the law, said in a filing with the Ohio Supreme Court that attempted to stop the order that the trial court “patently and unambiguously exceeded its authority” in blocking the law. It really is a protection of the child kind of thing,” said the senate president, Matt Huffman, a Republican. “This issue is best addressed outside of government, through individual sports leagues and athletic associations, including the Ohio High School Athletic Association,” the governor said in a 2021 statement. Vaughn said Equitas Health sees an extremely low regret rate for gender-related treatment.

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.

Medical professionals across Ohio have spoken out overwhelmingly against HB 68. At a senate committee hearing last week, Nick Lashutka, the president of the Ohio Children’s Hospital Association, testified that the bill “strips away” the rights of parents with transgender children. Ohio hospitals do not offer gender-affirming care to young patients without the consent of a parent or guardian.

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.

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.

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.

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.

Judge Michael Holbrook extended an order to block House Bill 68 till May 20, at the request of the American Civil Liberties Union of Ohio. They filed a lawsuit over HB 68 in March on behalf of two 12-year-old transgender Ohio girls and their families, one from Hamilton County and one from Franklin County. The lawsuit argues they would lose “critical, medically necessary health care” if HB 68 were to take effect.

If passed, the bill will assert on behalf of the Ohio General Assembly that most minors who identify as transgender will outgrow it in adulthood. A judge in Franklin County put a short-term pause Tuesday on House Bill 68, a statewide ban on gender-affirming care for trans minors that would have taken effect in less than two weeks, according to court documents. Hormone therapy is usually an option for individuals who have diagnosed gender dysphoria and are ready to begin transitioning. Transgender women are typically prescribed estrogen, while transgender men are typically prescribed testosterone. The coalition of protesters at the statehouse on included LGBTQ+ advocates and the parents of transgender children, two groups that have fought HB 68 since its inception in February. Proponents argued the bill was necessary to protect children and pointed to stories of people who detransitioned − something LGBTQ advocates say is rare.