Ohio judge temporarily blocks Ohio ban on gender-affirming care for minors

COLUMBUS, Ohio (WOIO) - A Franklin County judge temporarily blocked the ban on gender-affirming care for minors Tuesday.

CBS affiliate WBNS reports the temporary block on the ban was issued by the Franklin County Court of Common Pleas.

A statement from the ACLU of Ohio read in part:

“The plaintiffs, represented by the American Civil Liberties Union, the ACLU of Ohio, and the global law firm Goodwin Procter, successfully argued that the plaintiffs are likely to win their claim that House Bill 68 violates the Ohio Constitution because it covers more than one single subject. The Court enjoined the Health Care Ban as well as a ban on transgender girls participating on girls or women’s sports teams that was also contained within House Bill 68.”

Set to take effect on April 24, the law bans gender-affirming surgeries and restricts hormone therapies and mental health care for transgender individuals under 18.

The law also bans transgender girls and women from girls and women’s sports teams at both the K-12 and collegiate level.

Two families of transgender minors filed a constitutional challenge to the law just three weeks ago, alleging the law denies transgender youth health care and specifically discriminates against their access to it.

ACLU of Ohio Legal Director Freda Levenson said in March that the new law “will cause severe harm to transgender youth.”

“These personal, private medical decisions should remain between families and doctors; they don’t belong to politicians,” she said in a statement. “H.B. 68 violates the Ohio Constitution in multiple ways. We will fight in court to ensure that trans youth and their parents can access critically important, lifesaving healthcare without government intrusion.”