On Tuesday, the American Civil Liberties Union, the ACLU of Ohio, and the law firm Goodwin filed a lawsuit challenging House Bill 68, legislation in Ohio that prohibits transgender youth from receiving gender-affirming medical care and bans transgender girls from participating in women's sports.
The complaint addresses the restrictions on medical care and requests that the SAFE Act, which stands for Save Adolescents from Experimentation, be declared unconstitutional by the Franklin County Court of Common Pleas before its scheduled implementation date of April 24, 2024.
ACLU Files Lawsuit Against Ohio
Physicians who provide gender-affirming care for transgender youth would be subject to discipline by the applicable professional licensing board under the legislation. The law includes exceptions for such care for non-transgender youth and also consists of a grandfather clause that allows transgender people already receiving care to continue doing so.
Two families filed the complaint, claiming their children could lose access to "critical, medically necessary" healthcare. They argue that the law violates the Equal Protection provision and four other sections of the Ohio Constitution.
This clause and the Due Course of Law clause stipulate that no measure may address more than one subject and that no rule or legislation shall prohibit purchasing or selling Health Care or health insurance.
Freda Levenson, Legal Director at the ACLU of Ohio, said in a statement regarding the lawsuit that these personal, private medical rulings should remain between families and doctors and noted that they do not belong to politicians.
She continued that they will fight in court to provide access to lifesaving healthcare without government intrusion to trans youth and their parents.
One of the children named in the lawsuit, who was unidentified due to age, said that using puberty blockers helped her ease her fear and anxiety about her body changing in ways inconsistent with her gender, which has improved her mental health and relieved her gender dysphoria.
Her family claims that if HB 68 is implemented, they will not be able to provide her with estrogen hormone therapy when the time comes if that is what she wants, and her parents agree, which has raised concerns about her health.
Gov. DeWine Expresses Concerns on Trans Medical Care Ban
In January, the Republican-controlled Ohio House and Senate overrode a bill vetoed by Republican Gov. Mike DeWine.
DeWine had voiced concerns that the state would be subject to legal challenges if the bill passed. A federal judge declared an Arkansas law unconstitutional, and legislation of a similar law has been stopped in several states, including Texas and Georgia, pending the outcome of legal proceedings.
Furthermore, he also expressed his concern about the possible effects that banning transgender medical care could have on the small, vulnerable transgender population.
During his remarks following his veto, he claimed that many parents had told him that their child would be dead today if they had not received the treatment they received from an Ohio children's hospital. He added that he has also been told by those who are now grown adults that, but for this care, they would have taken their lives when they were teenagers.
