Judge temporarily halts Ohio's trans athlete, healthcare ban

COLUMBUS, Ohio (WCMH) -- An Ohio law banning gender-affirming care for transgender youth cannot go into effect as planned next week while a legal challenge moves forward in court, a Franklin County judge ruled Tuesday. 

Franklin County Common Pleas Judge Michael Holbrook issued a two-week temporary restraining order on Tuesday to block House Bill 68. The legislation would prohibit Ohio’s children’s hospitals from providing treatment like hormone therapy to trans minors, and was set to take effect on April 24.

Tuesday’s ruling follows a lawsuit by the ACLU against the measure filed in March on behalf of two families whose children are at risk of losing access to their healthcare. The temporary restraining order is in effect for 14 days or until the hearing of the ACLU's motion for a preliminary injunction.

"We are thrilled and relieved that Ohio’s ban on gender-affirming health care has been halted and that transgender youth can continue, for the near term at least, to access medically necessary healthcare," said Freda Levenson, legal director for the ACLU of Ohio. "Our legal battle will continue until, we hope, this cruel restriction is permanently blocked."

The ACLU argues the legislation violates the Ohio Constitution’s single-subject rule, requiring bills to only be about one topic, given the measure addresses trans healthcare and also bans transgender athletes’ participation in women’s sports. The two provisions had been separate bills before Ohio House legislators combined them in June last year.

H.B. 68 also goes against a constitutional amendment that says no law or rule “shall prohibit the purchase or sale of Health Care or health insurance,” the ACLU said. The amendment led by Ohio Republicans passed in 2011 and aimed to limit the effects of the Affordable Care Act.

"I think the judge made the right call," said Maria Bruno, public policy director of Equality Ohio. "We are obviously relieved that families have a few more weeks without their care being cut off. We also know this is a temporary solution so we, of course, anxiously await the ultimate result of the case."

The legal challenge came after the Statehouse voted to override Gov. Mike DeWine’s veto of the legislation. DeWine decided to reject the bill after visiting several children’s hospitals, arguing “parents should make these decisions and not the government.”

Rep. Gary Click (R-Vickery), the primary sponsor of H.B. 68, said on Tuesday he was "disappointed, but not surprised," and argued "the longer this bill is in the waiting, the more harm takes place." Click noted he knew, from the day he introduced H.B. 68, that it would be "a marathon, not a sprint," and said he would "keep fighting for kids in Ohio."

"We've seen this in other states where the lower courts will put on a stay and then it moves up to an upper court until it finally gets to the court of final authority and that's where we win," said Click. "The science is not there, is not a social issue, this is not a part of the culture wars, this is a medical scandal what we’re doing to our kids."

Gender-affirming care is backed by every major medical association in the nation, including the American Medical Association, the American Academy of Pediatrics, and the American Psychological Association. To override medical consensus is “government overreach,” the ACLU said and promised it will “reinstate Ohio families’ right to make personal medical decisions with healthcare providers -- not politicians."

Ohio’s children’s hospitals have served about 3,300 individuals throughout the past 10 years whose first appointment at a gender clinic took place when they were under the age of 18, according to the Ohio Children’s Hospital Association president. Of those 3,300 individuals, 7% were prescribed a puberty blocker and 35% were prescribed hormones.

"Anytime we are in a situation when we are micro-managing medical professionals, I think that is incredibly damaging, let alone the fact we are literally banning medical best practices," said Bruno. "I can not emphasize enough how ridiculous that is."