Appeals court partially overturns Ohio ban on transgender care for minors

An Ohio appeals court declared Tuesday that a portion of a 2023 law banning gender-affirming medical care for minors is unconstitutional, ruling that a lower court erred in deciding the law does not infringe on the rights of parents or violate parts of the state’s constitution.

A three-judge panel for Ohio’s 10th District Court of Appeals reversed an August judgment that allowed House Bill 68 to take effect after a district court temporarily halted the measure’s enforcement last spring. The ruling sends the case back to the Franklin County Court of Common Pleas.

The law, which Republican Gov. Mike DeWine initially vetoed before Ohio’s GOP-led Legislature voted to override him, bans transition-related care, including puberty blockers and hormone therapy, for minors. It also bars transgender student-athletes from joining girls’ and women’s sports teams.

Two 12-year-old transgender girls, backed by the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), its Ohio affiliate and the law firm Goodwin, sued the state in March 2024, arguing that House Bill 68’s health care restrictions put their and other trans youths’ health and well-being “at risk of severe and irreversible harm.”

DeWine, in vetoing the bill, said similarly that his decision was “about protecting human life.”

“Many parents have told me that their child would not have survived — would be dead today — if they had not received the treatment they received from one of Ohio’s children’s hospitals,” he said at the time. A January 2024 executive order signed by DeWine bans gender-affirming surgeries for minors in Ohio.

Tuesday’s ruling again prevents House Bill 68’s restrictions on gender-affirming care from taking effect. The plaintiffs in their appeal did not challenge the law’s prohibition on surgical care and have not claimed they would be harmed by its restrictions on school sports.

“This win restores the right of trans youth in Ohio to choose vitally important health care, with the support of their families and physicians. We are gratified by the Court’s decision, which soundly rejects this interference of politicians with Ohioans’ bodily autonomy,” said Freda Levenson, legal director at the ACLU of Ohio. “Although this litigation will likely not end here, we remain fervently committed to preventing this egregious bill from ever again taking effect.”

Ohio Attorney General Dave Yost (R) said he plans to appeal the court’s decision.

“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,” he said in a statement.

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