Columbus, OH – This afternoon, the Ohio House voted to override Governor DeWine’s veto of HB 68, a bill banning gender-affirming care for transgender people under 18, by a vote of 65 to 28. The Ohio Senate is expected to hold a vote on the veto override on January 24.
The American Civil Liberties Union and the ACLU of Ohio condemned the House vote:
“We are extremely disappointed that the Ohio House continued their crusade against transgender youth and their families by returning early for an emergency session to override the Governor’s veto on HB 68. This state-sponsored vendetta against some of Ohio’s most vulnerable young people is beyond cruel. The ACLU of Ohio stands in solidarity with all transgender youth and their families. This measure may force families to leave the state, disrupting communities and other deep ties to Ohio’s history and economy. To make matters worse, Ohio is now considering adopting sweeping new rules that would restrict the care that Ohio providers can provide to all transgender patients of all ages. These proposed restrictions, if finalized, would make Ohio the most restrictive state in the country with respect to evidence-based health care, imposing disastrous burdens on providers untethered from any medical guidelines. Ohioans do not want government officials involved in private medical decisions, these matters should be reserved for parents, children, and doctors.”
Governor DeWine’s proposed restrictions would prohibit most primary care providers from providing hormone treatments to transgender people of any age and impose a litany of cumbersome requirements unfounded by medical evidence and threaten to shut down care across the state. If allowed to go into effect, the regulations would force thousands of transgender Ohioans to go without health care treatments they and their doctors know they need to live and that many Ohioans may have been relying on for years.
Gender-affirming medical care as treatment for gender dysphoria is broadly supported across the entire medical mainstream, including by the American Medical Association and the American Psychological Association.
