Ohio Supreme Court Greenlights Ban on Gender-Affirming Care
Despite a prior judicial ruling against the law, the enforcement of Ohio’s ban on gender-affirming care for minors will continue.
The Ohio Supreme Court has ruled that the state can enforce a law prohibiting minors from receiving gender-affirming care while the law’s constitutionality is being challenged in the courts.
The state’s highest court granted a request from Ohio Republican Attorney General Dave Yost, asking the courts to stay a lower court ruling finding that the law was likely unconstitutional.
That earlier ruling, issued by a three-judge panel of the state’s 10th District Court of Appeals, reversed a Franklin County judge’s ruling, giving state authorities the power to enforce the ban.
Two of the state’s seven Supreme Court justices, Republican Pat Fischer and Democrat Jennifer Brunner, dissented from the high court’s latest opinion.
Due to the stay on the court’s injunction — which would have prevented government representatives from seeking to enforce the ban — state authorities will be able to prosecute doctors accused of prescribing transition-related treatments to minors.
The ban on gender-affirming care — which passed along with a ban on transgender women and girls from participating on female-designated sports teams — was passed in late 2023 but was later vetoed by Republican Gov. Mike DeWine.
However, the bill became law after Republican lawmakers voted to override DeWine’s veto.
A spokesperson for Yost — who is running for governor and is attempting to court socially conservative voters — celebrated the ruling as a victory for “protecting children from drug-induced gender transitions.”
“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,” spokesperson Bethany McCorkle told The Hill in a statement.
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