COLUMBUS, Ohio (WCMH) — The Ohio Supreme Court is set to decide whether a contested state law banning certain medical treatment for transgender youth is unconstitutional.
The high court announced on July 22 that it’s reviewing a lawsuit against House Bill 68, the state law prohibiting gender-affirming care for minors. Ohio Attorney General Dave Yost asked the justices to consider the case after an appeals court ruled in March that the law is unconstitutional, arguing it “infringes on parents’ fundamental right to direct the medical care of their children.”
Yost, a longtime H.B. 68 supporter, vowed to appeal that ruling. In an April statement, the attorney general’s office said, “We look forward to showing once again that the legislature acted properly in enacting this constitutional law, which protects our children from irreversible medical decisions.” Watch a previous NBC4 report on the March decision in the video player above.
Ohio’s top court, which voted 6-1 along party lines to take up Yost’s appeal, said in late April that the state can continue enforcing the law while litigation continues.
Boding well for H.B. 68, a Tennessee law that also prohibits trans minors from receiving treatment like puberty blockers and hormone therapy was upheld by the U.S. Supreme Court in June. Still, the ACLU of Ohio, which filed the lawsuit against H.B. 68 on behalf of two families with trans children, said it remains confident in challenging Ohio’s version of the law.
“Make no mistake: the ACLU of Ohio’s litigation challenging House Bill 68 will proceed,” said Freda Levenson, ACLU of Ohio chief legal officer, in a statement. “Unlike [in Tennessee], our case raises separate constitutional claims under the Ohio Constitution. We will continue to do everything in our power to ensure transgender children and their families have the ability to live freely and thrive.”
H.B. 68, which also bans trans female athletes’ participation in women’s sports, faced a contentious road while advancing through Ohio’s legislature. The measure was condemned by top Ohio doctors, including Nick Lashutka, president of the Ohio Children’s Hospital Association, who argued at the Statehouse in 2023 that “it is a dangerous precedent for government to dictate when medication is appropriate in pediatrics.”
While the Statehouse approved H.B. 68 in December 2023, Gov. Mike DeWine vetoed the legislation the following month. The governor said he made his decision after visiting patients at five children’s hospitals, arguing that “these are gut-wrenching decisions that should be made by parents and should be informed by teams of doctors.” Still, both chambers of the Statehouse moved to override DeWine’s veto.
The ACLU filed its lawsuit against H.B. 68 later that spring, putting the law temporarily on hold and setting up a five-day Franklin County trial in July 2024. Ultimately, Common Pleas Judge Michael Holbrook ruled that the legislation could go into effect given it didn’t violate Ohio’s constitution. The ACLU then appealed Holbrook’s decision to the appeals court.
“This has been a long hard fight to protect minors in the state of Ohio,” said Rep. Gary Click (R-Vickery), H.B. 68’s primary sponsor, in a statement after Holbrook’s ruling. “A strong cross-section of Ohioans… recognize that decisions like these are too consequential to be made for and by minors who are incapable of providing informed consent.”
