High court reinstates enforcement of Ohio's ban on gender-affirming care for minors during appeal
COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) — Ohio may enforce its ban on gender-affirming care for minors while an appeal proceeds, a divided Ohio Supreme Court ruled on Tuesday. The law also bans transgender women and girls from participating in female sports.
The high court's 4-3 decision reverses a lower court ruling from March that had blocked the 2023 law from taking effect.
The order marked a victory for Republican Ohio Attorney General Dave Yost, who has characterized the legal dispute as a fight 'to protect these unprotected children.'
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Yost has parted ways on the issue with the governor, fellow Republican Mike DeWine, who vetoed what was labeled the SAFE Act in December 2023 in a move he called thoughtful, limited and 'pro-life.' The GOP-supermajority Legislature quickly overrode the action.
Justice Pat DeWine, the governor's son, joined the three Republican justices elected in November — Joseph Deters, Megan Shanahan and Dan Hawkins — in reinstating enforcement of the law. Chief Justice Sharon Kennedy, and Justices Jennifer Brunner and Pat Fischer dissented.
The law calls for banning counseling, surgery and hormone therapy for youth, unless they are already receiving such therapies and a doctor deems it risky to stop, as well as containing the sports provisions.
The litigation was filed in March 2024 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 it specifically discriminates against them accessing it by allowing the use of identical medications for other purposes.
They lost at the trial court level, but later succeeded in getting the law temporarily blocked by a panel of the 10th District Court of Appeals, which reversed the lower court judge's decision allowing the law to go into effect, on grounds it 'reasonably limits parents' rights.'
The Center for Christian Virtue, which lobbied for the law, lauded Tuesday's ruling.
'The General Assembly has every ability to enact laws protecting children like the SAFE Act,' President Aaron Baer said in a statement, 'and the Supreme Court sided with the Ohio Constitution by overturning the lower court.'
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Published Jun 14, 2025 • 5 minute read Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy speaks to journalists during a press conference in Kyiv, Ukraine, on Wednesday, June 4, 2025. Photo by Evgeniy Maloletka / AP KYIV, Ukraine — A sharp rise in global oil prices following Israeli strikes on Iran will benefit Russia and bolster its military capabilities in the war in Ukraine, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Friday in comments that were under embargo until Saturday afternoon. This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. THIS CONTENT IS RESERVED FOR SUBSCRIBERS ONLY Subscribe now to read the latest news in your city and across Canada. Unlimited online access to articles from across Canada with one account. Get exclusive access to the Toronto Sun ePaper, an electronic replica of the print edition that you can share, download and comment on. Enjoy insights and behind-the-scenes analysis from our award-winning journalists. Support local journalists and the next generation of journalists. Daily puzzles including the New York Times Crossword. SUBSCRIBE TO UNLOCK MORE ARTICLES Subscribe now to read the latest news in your city and across Canada. Unlimited online access to articles from across Canada with one account. Get exclusive access to the Toronto Sun ePaper, an electronic replica of the print edition that you can share, download and comment on. Enjoy insights and behind-the-scenes analysis from our award-winning journalists. Support local journalists and the next generation of journalists. Daily puzzles including the New York Times Crossword. REGISTER / SIGN IN TO UNLOCK MORE ARTICLES Create an account or sign in to continue with your reading experience. Access articles from across Canada with one account. Share your thoughts and join the conversation in the comments. Enjoy additional articles per month. Get email updates from your favourite authors. THIS ARTICLE IS FREE TO READ REGISTER TO UNLOCK. Create an account or sign in to continue with your reading experience. Access articles from across Canada with one account Share your thoughts and join the conversation in the comments Enjoy additional articles per month Get email updates from your favourite authors Don't have an account? Create Account Speaking to journalists in Kyiv, Zelenskyy said the surge in oil prices threatens Ukraine's position on the battlefield, especially because Western allies have not enforced effective price caps on Russian oil exports. 'The strikes led to a sharp increase in the price of oil, which is negative for us,' Zelenskyy said. 'The Russians are getting stronger due to greater income from oil exports.' Global oil prices rose as much as 7% after Israel and Iran exchanged attacks over the past 48 hours, raising concerns that further escalation in the region could disrupt oil exports from the Middle East. 'We will raise this issue' Zelenskyy said he planned to raise the issue in an upcoming conversation with U.S. President Donald Trump. This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. 'In the near future, I will be in contact with the American side, I think with the president, and we will raise this issue,' he said. Zelenskyy also expressed concern that U.S. military aid could be diverted away from Ukraine toward Israel during renewed tensions in the Middle East. 'We would like aid to Ukraine not to decrease because of this,' he said. 'Last time, this was a factor that slowed down aid to Ukraine.' Ukraine's military needs have been sidelined by the United States in favour of supporting Israel, Zelenskyy said, citing a shipment of 20,000 interceptor missiles, designed to counter Iran-made Shahed drones, that had been intended for Ukraine but were redirected to Israel. 'And for us it was a blow,' he said. 'When you face 300 to 400 drones a day, most are shot down or go off course, but some get through. We were counting on those missiles.' Your noon-hour look at what's happening in Toronto and beyond. By signing up you consent to receive the above newsletter from Postmedia Network Inc. Please try again This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. An air defence system, Barak-8, promised to Ukraine by Israeli President Benjamin Netanyahu was sent to the U.S. for repairs but never delivered to Ukraine, Zelenskyy said. The Ukrainian president conceded that momentum for the Coalition of the Willing, a group of 31 countries which have pledged to strengthen support for Ukraine against Russian aggression, has slowed because of U.S. ambivalence over providing a backstop. 'This situation has shown that Europe has not yet decided for itself that it will be with Ukraine completely if America is not there,' he said. Coalition offer under consideration The offer of a foreign troop 'reassurance force' pledged by the Coalition of the Willing was still on the table 'but they need a backstop, as they say, from America,' Zelenskyy said. 'This means that suddenly, if something happens, America will be with them and with Ukraine.' This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. The Ukrainian president also said the presence of foreign contingents in Ukraine would act as a security guarantee and allow Kyiv to make territorial compromises, which is the first time he has articulated a link between the reassurance force and concessions Kyiv is willing to make in negotiations with Russia. 'It is simply that their presence gives us the opportunity to compromise, when we can say that today our state does not have the strength to take our territories within the borders of 1991,' he said. But Europe and Ukraine are still waiting on strong signals from Trump. 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Zelenskyy said in a post on X that the Ukrainian servicemen who returned were members of the Armed Forces, the National Guard, the State Border Guard Service, and the State Transport Special Service. This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. The first round of the staggered exchanges took place on Monday. The agreement to exchange prisoners of war and the bodies of fallen soldiers was the only tangible outcome of the June 2 Istanbul talks. Russian President Vladimir Putin and Trump held a 50-minute phone call Saturday to discuss both the escalating situation in the Middle East and Ukraine peace talks, Putin's foreign affairs adviser Yuri Ushakov said. According to Ushakov, Putin told Trump about the implementation of the agreements during peace talks in Istanbul between Russian and Ukrainian delegations, including the exchange of prisoners of war. 'Our president noted that an exchange of prisoners of war is taking place, including seriously wounded and prisoners of war under 25 years of age,' Ushakov said, along with expressing readiness to continue negotiations with the Ukrainians. This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. Trump, he said, 'noted his interest in a speedy end to the Russian-Ukrainian conflict.' Russia says push continues Continuing a renewed battlefield push along eastern and northeastern parts of the more than 1,000-kilometre (over 600-mile) front line, the Russian Defence Ministry claimed Saturday that its troops captured another village in the Donetsk region, Zelenyi Kut. The Ukrainian military had no immediate comment on the Russian claim. Russia launched 58 drones and decoys at Ukraine overnight into Saturday, according to the Ukrainian air force, which said its air defences destroyed 23 drones while another 20 were jammed. 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