Background
In December, lawmakers passed a measure that would ban transition care treatments for minors. Supporters of the bill argued that parents are pressured by doctors to sign off on these treatments for their children. Representative Gary Click, the bill’s sponsor, stated that parents are “being manipulated by the physicians.”
In addition to banning transition care, the bill also says medical professionals providing this care could lose their licenses and be sued. It also prohibits transgender girls and women from playing on sports teams that correspond with their gender identity.
Last Friday, Governor DeWine expressed his concerns about the bill saying that it would signal that the government knows better what is medically best for a child than the child’s parents. He reached his decision after visiting hospitals and meeting with families affected by gender-affirming care.
Why It Matters: A landmark year for transgender restrictions.
The Ohio bill came at the tail end of a year that has seen a record number of new laws passed to regulate the lives of transgender youth.
Before this year, only three states had passed restrictions on gender transition medical care for minors. The count now stands at more than 20. Several dozen laws, including ones on how gender can be discussed in classrooms, what bathrooms transgender students can use and whether they can participate in school sports, have been enacted this year.
Supporters of transition care bans have argued that the treatments in minors are relatively new, and the long-term effects are not well studied.
The American Academy of Pediatrics commissioned a systematic review of medical research on the treatments, while still taking the position that they can be essential. Transgender adolescents have high rates of depression, suicidal thoughts and self-harm, and some evidence suggests that puberty blockers and hormones, in the short-term, could improve their mental health.
What’s Next: Lawmakers could override the veto.
For now, minors in Ohio can continue to receive gender transition treatments. But the Ohio legislature, where Republicans hold a supermajority, could override Mr. DeWine’s veto. If it does, only those who have already been receiving treatments will be able to continue them.
About 100,000 transgender minors live in the 23 states that have laws restricting gender-affirming care. Federal judges have blocked enforcement of the laws in some states and let them go into effect in others. Many families, fearing the abrupt cutoff of a child’s treatment, have moved across state lines.
Last month, transgender youth and their families in Tennessee asked the Supreme Court to block the state’s ban on transition care for minors. If the court agrees to hear the case, it would have consequences for state bans across the country, legal experts said.
Anna Betts contributed reporting.
