The Ohio House has already approved an earlier version of HB 68. The Senate amended it Wednesday to make an exception for minors in Ohio who already receive transgender care so they can continue receiving hormone treatment. The House will have to approve the changes before they go to the governor for his signature.
Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine has not said whether he will sign the bill if it reaches his desk. He had previously expressed doubts about sporting restrictions, saying such decisions were best made by individual sporting organisations.
Prohibiting the care of minors based on gender
As passed by the Senate, HB 68 sets limits on how doctors can treat gender dysphoria. Doctors say there are three main methods of treatment: counselling, hormone therapy, and gender confirmation surgery. HB 68 prohibits the latter two methods of treating minors in Ohio and requires that counselors obtain permission from at least one parent or legal guardian before providing gender dysphoria counseling.
Medical professionals in Ohio confirm that there are no clinics in the state that can perform gender confirmation surgery on a minor. But there is a small percentage of minors in Ohio with gender dysphoria who receive hormonal treatments ranging from puberty blockers to testosterone injections.
Over the past year, efforts to ban hormone therapy for minors have sparked an onslaught of opposition from hundreds, ranging from transgender Ohioans and their families, children’s hospitals and Ohio medical associations, and transgender advocates who have opposed the state Legislature’s interference with needed medical services. Care in the country.
Dr. Kelly Blankenship, associate medical director at Children’s Hospital of Dayton and a behavioral health expert, defended the use of hormone therapy for minors, saying the treatment administered by Children’s Hospital of Dayton is peer-reviewed and supported by specialists in pediatrics, psychiatry, medicine and endocrinology. . She noted that all hospital treatment requires parental consent and encouraged lawmakers to vote against the bill.
“Transgender children, teens, and their families deserve care grounded in science, compassion, and ethics,” Blankenship said. “In addition, the current version of HB 68 creates higher barriers to accessing mental health care for this condition, higher than for any other condition. We should never make it more difficult to access mental health care for our children at a time when our children are in crisis.” .
School sports restrictions for transgender girls
The proposal also requires K-12 public schools and universities to designate separate male and female teams, and explicitly prohibits transgender girls and women from participating in girls’ and women’s sports.
At least 20 states have passed some version of the ban on transgender athletes playing on K-12 and collegiate sports teams statewide. This ban will be repealed through a regulation proposed by President Joe Biden’s administration that is scheduled to be finalized early next year. The rule, announced in April, states that the blanket ban violates Title IX, landmark federal gender equality legislation passed in 1972.
This proposal would make it harder for schools to prevent, for example, a transgender girl in elementary school from playing on the girls’ basketball team. But it would also leave room for schools to develop policies that prohibit transgender athletes from playing on more competitive teams if those policies are designed to ensure fairness or prevent sports-related injuries.
Testimony overwhelmingly in opposition
Senate President Matt Huffman, R-Lima, told reporters Wednesday that he believes a “large majority” of Ohioans support the measure, even though testimony on the bill was overwhelmingly opposed.
“We’re not just making laws for hundreds of people who come to testify, we’re making laws for over 11 million people,” Hoffman said, before conveying his belief that the state needs to step in to protect minors in Ohio.
Senate Minority Leader Nikki Antonio, D-Lakewood, called the bill “another solution in search of a problem that is fanning the flames of the culture wars.”
“Ohio voters have told us time and time again that they don’t want the government involved in their personal health care decisions,” Antonio said.
The bill had supporters, including a variety of “de-trans” — people who regret undergoing hormone therapy or surgery to confirm their gender — who shared their negative experience and advised the Ohio Legislature to protect other minors from a similar experience.
Morgan Keller, the only Ohioan who moved to testify, lamented the permanent changes to hormones in her body, and suggested that it would be too easy to take hormone blockers.
Keller testified that she underwent a double mastectomy at age 22 on the advice of an Ohio-based medical professional.
“I couldn’t give informed consent when I was 21, so why pretend kids can?” Keller asked in her testimony in November.
Others opposed this legislation because they believed it deprived parents of their right to have a say in their child’s medical care.
In June, West Chester Twp. Trustee Anne Baker, a prominent Butler County Republican who chaired Donald Trump’s campaign in the county, told House lawmakers the bill was government overreach that deprives transgender children and their families of medical independence.
“House Bill 68 says that transgender parents are not free or independent, and House Bill 68 takes parental rights and hands them over to you, the state,” said Baker, who has a transgender son. “This is something that should not happen in Ohio.”
“At some point, there is a line drawn…,” Hoffman said Wednesday. “Some parents might say, ‘You know, my parents beat me with a stick until I was black and blue, and I’m going to do the same to my child.’ Well, we prevent that. So, somewhere along the line, the state has to step in. It’s one of the Those are the things where it’s really protective of the child.
The Associated Press contributed to this report
The Ohio Senate has recently made headlines with its approval of a ban on gender-affirming care for minors, sparking controversy and outcry from the LGBTQ+ community and its allies. This move has ignited a heated debate on the rights of transgender youth, and the potential harm that such a ban could inflict. In addition to this, the Senate has also imposed transient sports restrictions, further adding fuel to the fire of discussion regarding the rights and freedoms of transgender individuals. These decisions have raised significant concerns and have provoked a range of emotional responses, drawing attention to the intersection of politics, healthcare, and human rights.