The ACLU has filed a lawsuit against Ohio on Tuesday regarding a law that will forbid gender-affirming medical treatment for minors, set to be enforced next month.
Ohio lawmakers in January overrode Republican Gov. Mike DeWine’s veto of legislation prohibiting transgender minors from accessing treatments such as puberty blockers, hormone replacement therapy, and surgery. DeWine expressed concerns in December about the profound impact of such a law on transgender children and their families.
The law, which also prevents transgender women and girls from participating in female school sports teams, will be enforced on April 24. Minors who receive gender-affirming medical care before the law’s effective date are exempt from its health care restrictions.
The lawsuit filed on behalf of two 12-year-old girls and their families on Tuesday seeks to block House Bill 68 from taking effect and declares the measure's restrictions on gender-affirming health care unconstitutional.
Freda Levenson, legal director of the ACLU of Ohio, which filed the lawsuit along with the ACLU and the law firm Goodwin, stated, “The ban on gender-affirming care will cause severe harm to transgender youth. These personal, private medical decisions should remain between families and doctors; they don’t belong to politicians.
The lawsuit, filed in the Franklin County Court of Common Pleas, argues that the new Ohio law violates several sections of the state’s constitution, including the equal protection clause.
“Specifically, this law discriminates against [transgender adolescents] based on their sex assigned at birth, their incongruence between their sex and gender identity, their transgender status, and their failure to conform to stereotypes and expected behavior associated with their sex assigned at birth,
The new health care restrictions similarly discriminate against the parents of transgender minors by denying them the ability to obtain care for their children that major medical organizations have deemed medically necessary, the lawsuit argues.
The lawsuit argues that the law also violates the state’s single-subject rule by addressing more than one subject.
In June, Ohio lawmakers combined House Bill 68 with a separate measure to prevent transgender student-athletes from competing on sports teams consistent with their gender identity.
The Tuesday's lawsuit states, “By combining these two distinct subjects into a single bill, H.B. 68 encompasses a disunity of subject matter. In summary, the General Assembly passed a bill containing more than one subject, in violation of the Ohio Constitution.
Ohio’s Republican Attorney General Dave Yost, who is named as a defendant in Tuesday’s lawsuit, said his office is ready to defend the new law in court.
“We protect children with various restrictions that do not apply to adults—from signing legal contracts to buying alcohol and tobacco and more,” Yost said in a post on social mediaMy office will protect this constitutional statute as I said when I vetoed it.
24 states, including Ohio, have placed restrictions on gender-affirming health care for transgender minors and some adults. Court orders have stopped bans in Florida, Idaho and Montana. This information comes from the Movement Advancement Project.The Movement Advancement Project is a nonprofit organization that monitors LGBTQ laws.
In June, a federal judge permanently declared Arkansas's 2021 ban unconstitutional. A federal judge in June made Arkansas’s 2021 ban unconstitutional forever. A federal judge in June ruled that Arkansas’s 2021 ban was unconstitutional and permanent.
Ohio is planning to limit gender-affirming health care under new rules from the state’s Department of Health and Department of Mental Health and Addiction Services.
Since 2020, at least 24 states have passed laws preventing transgender student-athletes from competing on sports teams that match their gender identity. Temporary injunctions are preventing the bans in Arizona, Idaho, West Virginia and Utah from being enforced.
