COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) — Ohio's ban on gender-affirming care for minors is unconstitutional and must be permanently blocked from being enforced, a three-judge panel of appellate judges ruled Tuesday. The law also banned trans women and girls from participating in female sports.
The state attorney general vowed an immediate appeal.
On Tuesday, the state 10th District Court of Appeals reversed a lower court judge's decision last summer to allow the law to go into effect, after finding it “reasonably limits parents' rights.” The law bans counseling, gender-affirming surgery and hormone therapy for minors, unless they are already receiving such therapies and a doctor deems it risky to stop.
The litigation was filed by the American Civil Liberties Union, ACLU of Ohio and the global law firm Goodwin, who argued the law not only denies health care to transgender children and teens, but specifically discriminates against them accessing it.
The appellate court agreed, in a 2-1 majority opinion written by Judge Carly Edelstein, and cited a number of flaws in the lower court's reasoning.
The judge cited a number of flaws in the lower court’s reasoning. She said that the Ohio law does not outlaw identical drugs when they're used for other reasons, only when they're used for gender transitioning, which makes it discriminatory. She also said that a prescription ban is not a reasonable exercise of the state's police power when it is weighed against the rights of parents to care for their children.
Addressing proponents' arguments that minors are not in a position to understand the long-term impacts such procedures could have on their lives, the judge said that, while they may not be, their parents are.
“Thus, in considering whether the H.B. 68 ban is reasonable, it is necessary to keep in mind that the law recognizes the maturity, experience, and capacity of parents to make difficult judgments and act in their children’s best interest,” she wrote.
The ACLU called the ruling “historic.”
"This win restores the right of trans youth in Ohio to choose vitally important health care, with the support of their families and physicians," Freda Levenson, legal director of the ACLU of Ohio, said in a statement. “We are gratified by the Court’s decision, which soundly rejects this interference of politicians with Ohioans’ bodily autonomy.”
Tuesday's ruling marked the second blow for the legislation.
Republican Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine vetoed the law in December 2023, after touring the state to visit children’s hospitals and talking to families of children with gender dysphoria. He cast his action as thoughtful, limited and “pro-life” — citing the suicide risks associated with minors who don't get proper treatment for gender dysphoria.
DeWine simultaneously announced plans to move to administratively ban gender-affirming surgeries until a person is 18, and to position the state to better regulate and track gender-affirming treatments in both children and adults. He hoped the move would allay concerns of fellow Republicans at the Ohio Statehouse, but the administration swiftly backed off that plan after transgender adults raised serious concerns about how state regulations could impact their lives and health.
Ohio lawmakers stood their ground on the bill, easily overriding his veto — making Ohio the 23rd state to ban gender-affirming health care for trans youth.
Republican Ohio Attorney General Dave Yost, a candidate to succeed DeWine next year who serves as the Legislature's lawyer, quickly released a statement saying that he will appeal Tuesday's ruling.
“This is a no-brainer – we are appealing that decision and will seek an immediate stay," he said. “There is no way I’ll stop fighting to protect these unprotected children.”
Levenson acknowledged that Tuesday's ruling was likely not the end of the legal dispute, but she said in a statement that her organization remained “fervently committed” to preventing the bill from ever taking effect again.
Julie Carr Smyth, The Associated Press
