A panel of three appeals court judges has declared Ohio’s law banning gender transition treatment for minors unconstitutional. But the law known as House Bill 68 is headed to the Ohio Supreme Court for a final decision.
Tenth District Court of Appeals judges Julia Dorrian, Michael Mental and Carly Edelstein, all Democrats, said in their ruling that "we conclude that parents have a fundamental right to seek medical care for their children", and that the law blocks them from doing that.
"H.B. 68 categorically prevents parents from following the recommendations of qualified medical professionals and choosing to treat their children’s gender dysphoria with puberty blockers and hormone therapy," the judges wrote.
The judges also wrote that the decision wouldn't just affect the parents of trans children but could be "disastrous" for parents seeking medical treatment for their kids.
"Surely, the force of this fundamental right is not handcuffed to the 19th century medical practices of bloodletting, purging, and the rampant prescribing of alcohol, cocaine, and opiate-based medicines," the judges wrote. "Thus, we cannot, in good conscience, depart from the reality of scientific development and limit the scope of parents’ exercise of this fundamental right to the world as it was nearly two centuries ago. Departure as such would be tantamount to jettison from common sense and logic.
The American Civil Liberties Union of Ohio filed the suit on behalf of the families of two trans children.
Legal director Freda Levenson said in a statement: "We are gratified by the Court’s decision, which soundly rejects this interference of politicians with Ohioans’ bodily autonomy."
"The state’s ban is discriminatory, baseless, and a danger to the well-being of the same Ohioan youth lawmakers claim to want to protect," said ACLU senior staff attorney Harper Seldin in a statement. "It’s also part of a sweeping effort to drive trans people out of public life altogether by controlling our health care, our families, and our lives."
Republican Attorney General Dave Yost said in a statement the case isn't over.
“This is a no brainer – we are appealing that decision and will seek an immediate stay. There is no way I’ll stop fighting to protect these unprotected children," wrote Yost. "Ohio’s elected representatives properly passed legislation protecting children from irreversible chemical sex change procedures, and the trial court upheld the law. But now the 10th district court of appeals has just greenlighted these permanent medical interventions against minors.”
Yost will ask the appellate court for an immediate stay, and is appealing the decision to the Ohio Supreme Court.
House Bill 68, which bans trans athletes from competing in girls' sports as well as gender transition treatments for minors, passed in December 2023. It was vetoed by Gov. Mike DeWine, who said those medical decisions shouldn't be made by the government but by parents of trans kids, some of whom told him their children wouldn't be alive without these treatments. Republicans in the legislature overrode his veto in January 2024, and the ACLU sued in Franklin County Common Pleas Court. A judge upheld the law, and the ACLU's appeal sent the case to the Tenth District Court of Appeals.
