Ohio legislators pass ban on gender-affirming care for minors, sending bill to governor

Ohio legislators Wednesday night passed a bill to ban gender-affirming care for minors, joining more than 20 states that have passed similar restrictions in the past two years.

If the bill is signed into law by the governor, its impacts would ripple across state lines. Some families of transgender youths who live in states with bans had been traveling to Ohio for gender-affirming care and now may have to seek other options.

The Saving Adolescents from Experimentation Act, or Safe Act, prohibits hormone therapy, puberty blockers and gender reassignment surgery for people under 18. Its sponsor, state House member Gary Click (R), told the Statehouse News Bureau in June that the measure was not about “culture wars” but about “medical ethics.” The measure also prohibits transgender girls from playing on sports teams designated for women in high school and college. It passed the Ohio Senate 24-8 and the Ohio House 61-27, largely along party lines.

During a heated debate Wednesday afternoon in the state Senate, Sen. Kristina Roegner (R) argued that proponents of the bill were focused on the well-being of children. “Both sides of this issue genuinely believe that what they are advocating for is best for the kids,” she said. “House Bill 68 protects Ohio’s kids and is good public policy.”

Sen. Bill DeMora (D) derided the bill as “anti-science” before turning to spectators in the chamber’s gallery.

“If you’re a trans person and watching this today here, or in the chambers, I want to talk to you directly. Your life has meaning and purpose. You are seen, you are valued, and you are loved,” DeMora said, adding: “I’m disgusted that the state that I love, the state that I’ve lived in my entire life, is not a safe place right now. And I apologize to all of you personally.”

The bill now goes to Gov. Mike DeWine (R) for his signature. DeWine previously said he was not taking a position on the measure until it arrived at his desk. Republicans, who have a supermajority in the legislature, could probably override any veto.

“We await a final bill to review before offering formal comment,” DeWine’s office said in an email to The Washington Post on Wednesday.

In an Ohio House committee meeting earlier this year, Nick Lashutka, the president and CEO of the Ohio Children’s Hospital Association, told legislators that the state’s pediatric hospital system ranks among the nation’s best and that allegations suggesting doctors there act inappropriately are “deeply offensive and disappointing.”

“We have been accused of establishing gender clinics to make money. This is false,” Lashutka said. “The majority of our care in these clinics is mental health. Any provider can tell you that across all types of insurance, behavioral health services are provided at a financial loss.”

According to Lashutka, the state’s hospitals have served roughly 3,300 children whose first appointment at a gender clinic took place before they turned 18. Every family meets with a multidisciplinary team, Lashutka said, that includes pediatric specialists in psychiatry, adolescent medicine and endocrinology.

Seven percent of those 3,300 children were prescribed a puberty blocker, and 35% received hormones, Lashutka said. Sixty-five percent were never prescribed medication. The state’s hospitals do not offer gender-affirming surgeries to minors, Lashutka said.

Hundreds of people have testified in hearings on the legislation this year. Last week, 87 people testified in a Senate committee hearing that stretched past 11 p.m. An overwhelming majority opposed the bill, and most of those who supported the ban flew in from out of state to testify.

At that hearing, Shefali Mahesh, chair of the Akron Children’s Hospital pediatrics department, told legislators she feared children would turn to dangerous alternatives. Her program recently hospitalized a child, she said, who had been injecting hormones they bought off the internet.

“We argue that, rather than our government abandoning children and forcing them to treat their own medical conditions and live several years without medically based treatment, we continue to allow licensed, trained professionals with years of experience to do so using the rigorous and thorough guidelines,” Mahesh said.

A few hours before the final vote in the Senate, a committee hearing added several amendments to the bill, including one that would allow children who are already receiving gender-affirming care in Ohio to continue their treatment. That clause does not apply to families who travel from out of state.