Attorneys for the two 12-year-old trans girls who sued over Ohio’s law banning gender transition treatments for minors have appealed a Franklin County judge’s ruling on Tuesday upholding the law. Republican Attorney General Dave Yost, who applauded the decision in the lawsuit over House Bill 68, said he’s happy the case will continue. But the leader of the state's leading advocacy group for trans Ohioans said they're "furious" at the decision.
The appeal was filed by the American Civil Liberties Union of Ohio has filed with the Tenth District Court of Appeals not long after the decision from Judge Michael Holbrook was released.
“I'm delighted. I was concerned that they were going to leave this at this trial court level, which would have no precedential value," Yost said. "Now we're going to get a review by the appellate court and the Supreme Court. And I'm very optimistic that at the end of the day, Judge Holbrook's well-reasoned decision is going to be upheld and House Bill 68 will continue to be the law of the land."
HB 68 combined the ban on gender transition treatment for minors with a ban on trans athletes in girls and women’s sports. Holbrook ruled it didn’t violate the state’s single subject rule for legislation.
"I'm more than disappointed. I'm quite furious," said Dara Adkison, executive director of TransOhio. “If this was said to be any group other than trans people right now, I think there would be a different kind of outcry. Saying that it's a single subject to pull all kinds of unrelated tasks together to discriminate against any kind of small minority group is just abhorrent.”
In his ruling, Holbrook also wrote HB 68 doesn't violate the health care freedom amendment in the Ohio constitution. But Yost said there are implications for this litigation in other states.
"The more useful part is the very extensive evidentiary record that we created here that other states will now be able to import—the expert medical testimony that put the lie to some of the medical associations that are insisting that everybody agrees it's a settled science. Well, no, it's not," Yost said. "That testimony, I think, is going to be very helpful in establishing what the truth of the matter is in other courts, legally."
But Adkison strongly disagreed.
"I think there's consensus amongst all major accredited medical associations. There is not consensus amongst fascist extremist groups that like to say they're medical associations that have no accreditation or backing or peer review," Adkinson said. "I'm not shocked those two kinds of organizations that don't necessarily mix, but I'm gonna go with the big ones that have been around for ages, both nationally and internationally, that say they know what the best practices for gender-affirming care for youth is."
The American Medical Association, the American Psychiatric Association, and the American Academy of Pediatrics oppose bans on gender-affirming care for minors. In this case, the state included testimony from Dr. James Cantor, a Canadian clinical psychologist and neuroscientist who has written that puberty blockers aren't safe or reversible, and Dr. Stephen B. Levine, a clinical professor of psychiatry at Case Western Reserve University who has written that there are many risks associated with gender-affirming care for minors.
The girls’ families had argued the law would prevent them from accessing necessary medical care, which Gov. Mike DeWine had cited when rejecting the law in January. Republican lawmakers quickly overrode his veto. The law was set to take effect in April, but Holbrook ordered it blocked until the trial.
