Latest news with #H.B.68
Yahoo
29-04-2025
- Health
- Yahoo
Ohio Supreme Court reinstates law banning trans healthcare for minors
COLUMBUS, Ohio (WCMH) — Ohio can resume enforcing a law banning certain healthcare for transgender youth while litigation continues, the state's Supreme Court ruled on Tuesday. The court announced Tuesday it's granting a request from Attorney General Dave Yost to pause an appellate court decision that said House Bill 68, Ohio's law banning gender-affirming care for minors, is unconstitutional. The appeals court overturned H.B. 68 in March, arguing an injunction should be imposed against the law's provision banning certain prescriptions. Watch a previous NBC4 report on the appellate court decision in the video player above. Yost has yet to release a statement on Tuesday's decision. The legal battle follows an August ruling from Franklin County Commons Pleas Judge Michael Holbrook that said H.B. 68 could go into effect after being on hold for several months. The ACLU then appealed Holbrook's decision on behalf of two families whose children are at risk of losing access to their healthcare. Freda Levenson, legal director at the ACLU of Ohio, said it's 'a terrible shame that the Supreme Court of Ohio is permitting the state to evade compliance with the Ohio Constitution.' 'Our clients have suffered tangible and irreparable harm during the eight months that HB 68 has been in place, including being denied essential health care in their home state,' said Levenson. 'The court of appeals was correct that H.B. 68 violates at least two separate provisions of the Ohio Constitution.' Yost had said in a statement at the time of the appellate court decision in March that he would seek an immediate stay, promising 'there is no way I'll stop fighting to protect these unprotected children.' 'Ohio's elected representatives properly passed legislation protecting children from irreversible chemical sex change procedures, and the trial court upheld the law,' Yost said. 'But now the 10th district court of appeals has just greenlighted these permanent medical interventions against minors.' Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Yahoo
29-04-2025
- Health
- Yahoo
Ohio Supreme Court keeps ban on gender-affirming care for transgender youth while case continues
'Gavel,' a sculpture by Andrew F. Scott, outside the Supreme Court of Ohio. Credit: Sam Howzit / Creative Commons. The Ohio Supreme Court is keeping the ban on gender-affirming care for transgender youth as the case goes through litigation. In March, the 10th District Court of Appeals partially blocked the state from enforcing House Bill 68, a ban on gender-affirming care for LGBTQ+ youth, allowing doctors to continue prescribing puberty blockers and hormone therapy. Attorney General Dave Yost filed a motion with the high court to stay the law, or pause changes, until a full review by the justices. This was granted Tuesday. H.B. 68 went into effect in 2024. The controversial legislation prevented LGBTQ+ minors from accessing care such as hormone blockers, hormone replacement therapy (HRT) and some mental health services. 'There is no way I'll stop fighting to protect these unprotected children,' Yost said, in part, in a statement from the March ruling. SUBSCRIBE: GET THE MORNING HEADLINES DELIVERED TO YOUR INBOX The law has been in court for months now, with the ACLU of Ohio arguing that it is unconstitutional and goes against parental rights and the right to bodily autonomy. 'It is a terrible shame that the Supreme Court of Ohio is permitting the state to evade compliance with the Ohio Constitution. Our clients have suffered tangible and irreparable harm during the eight months that H.B. 68 has been in place, including being denied essential health care in their home state,' Freda Levenson, ACLU legal director, said. 'The Court of Appeals was correct that H.B. 68 violates at least two separate provisions of the Ohio Constitution. We will continue to fight this extreme ban as the case goes ahead before the Supreme Court of Ohio.' The law also prohibits trans athletes from participating in middle, high school or college athletics on teams that align with their identity. In July 2024, parents and doctors testified to prevent the state from enforcing the ban, citing that the ban would 'deny basic human rights.' Follow WEWS statehouse reporter Morgan Trau on Twitter and Facebook. SUPPORT: YOU MAKE OUR WORK POSSIBLE
The Independent
19-03-2025
- Health
- The Independent
Appeals court blocks Ohio's ban on gender-affirming care for minors
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.
NBC News
19-03-2025
- Health
- NBC News
Appeals court blocks Ohio's ban on gender-affirming care for minors
COLUMBUS, Ohio — 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's 10th District Court of Appeals reversed the decision made last summer to allow the law to go into effect after a judge found 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 court agreed and 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 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, 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 Tuesday that it's likely not the end of the legal dispute, but said her organization remained 'fervently committed' to preventing the bill from ever taking effect again.
CNN
18-03-2025
- Health
- CNN
Appeals court blocks Ohio's ban on gender-affirming care for minors
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's Republican attorney general vowed an immediate appeal. On Tuesday, the state's 10th District Court of Appeals reversed a decision made last summer to allow the law to go into effect after a judge found 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 court agreed and cited a number of flaws in the lower court's reasoning. Judge Carly Edelstein wrote in the ruling 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, 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 Tuesday that it's likely not the end of the legal dispute, but said her organization remained 'fervently committed' to preventing the bill from ever taking effect again.
