Ohio governor blocks bill that would ban transitional care for minors
Background
Lawmakers previously passed the measure in December. Those in favor of the bill argued that parents are being pressured by doctors to sign off on transitional care treatments for their children. The bill’s sponsor, Rep. Gary Click, said parents are “being manipulated by the doctors.”
In addition to banning transitional care for minors, the bill says medical professionals who provide the care could lose their licenses and be sued. It also bans transgender girls and women from playing on high school and college sports teams that match their gender identity.
The governor has previously said that sports restrictions are best imposed by individual sports organizations, and opponents of the measure had hoped he would veto the bill.
On Friday, Mr. DeWine said that if the bill were to become law, “Ohio would be saying that the state, that the government, knows better what is medically best for a child than the two people who love that child most, the parents.” “
Why it matters: A milestone year for transgender disability.
The Ohio bill came at the end of a year in which a record number of new laws were passed to regulate the lives of transgender youth.
Before this year, only three states had introduced restrictions on medical care for minors, according to a New York Times analysis. The count now stands at more than twenty. Several dozen laws, including laws on how gender can be discussed in the classroom, which bathrooms transgender students can use and whether they can participate in school sports, were enacted this year.
The testimony in Ohio echoed the themes expressed in other statehouses. Supporters of a ban on transitional care have argued that the treatments for minors are relatively new and that the long-term effects have not been well studied.
This summer, the American Academy of Pediatrics commissioned a systematic review of medical research on the treatments, while still arguing that they may be essential. Transgender adolescents have a high rate of depression, suicidal thoughts and self-harmAnd some evidence suggests that puberty blockers and hormones, short-term, could improve their mental health.
“The most distressing part of my job is informing parents that their child has died, especially if their death is the result of a preventable suicide,” said Dr. Steve Davis, CEO of Cincinnati Children’s Hospital, told Ohio senators during a hearing on the bill. “You trust us on all other terms. Please trust us on this.”
What now? Lawmakers can override the veto.
For now, minors in Ohio can continue to receive gender transition treatments. But the Ohio Legislature, where Republicans have a supermajority, could override Mr. DeWine’s veto. If so, only those who have already undergone treatments can continue them.
According to the Williams Institute at UCLA Law School, there are approximately 100,000 transgender minors living in the 23 states that have laws restricting gender-affirming care. Federal judges have blocked enforcement of the laws in some states and allowed them to take effect in others. Many families have moved across state lines out of fear of an abrupt termination of a child’s treatment.
Last month, transgender youth and their families in Tennessee asked the Supreme Court to block the state’s ban on transition care for minors. If the court agrees to hear the case, it would impact state bans across the country, legal experts said.
Anna Betts reporting contributed.