COLUMBUS — A state appeals court on Tuesday blocked enforcement of an Ohio law banning gender-affirming medication for minors that had been passed over the veto of Gov. Mike DeWine.
Attorney General Dave Yost promptly said he would appeal.
The three-judge 10th District Court of Appeals panel in Columbus unanimously found the law to be unconstitutional, reversing a decision by a Franklin County Common Pleas judge and ordering him to issue a permanent injunction against that portion of a broader law.
READ FULL MOE V. YOST DECISION
The ruling would allow doctors to prescribe puberty-blocking drugs and hormone therapy for minors undergoing gender transition with parental consent.
Violations of the law could had led to civil litigation and action against a medical professional's license.
“While some parents may decline to permit their minor children to receive this type of care — as is their right — and members of the Ohio legislature may personally disagree with providing this type of care of minors, it is the constitutional right of Ohio citizens to be free to decide whether they receive health-care services recommended by medical professionals and widely accepted by the professional medical community as the appropriate treatment protocols for an appropriately diagnosed medical condition,” Judge Carly M. Edelstein wrote.
She was joined by Judge Michael C. Mentel while Judge Julia L. Dorrian concurred in the final judgment only.
The legal challenge to the law was brought by two 12-year-olds — born biologically male but transitioning to female — who, among other things, argued the law violated a provision of the Ohio Constitution blocking government from interfering with Ohioans’ obtaining health care and insurance coverage.
The state had contended that government has the right to prohibit experimental treatment that could have the effect of sterilizing children.
The appeals court rejected the argument from the state that the Health Care Freedom Act approved by voters in 2011 was about buying — or not having to buy — health insurance. The amendment had been pushed by its supporters as an unsuccessful way of blocking enforcement of the federal Affordable Care Act in Ohio.
“We find no basis to deviate from the plain and commonly understood meaning of ‘health care’ in our construction of the HCFA or otherwise find that this phrase would have been understood by the voters to mean something different than its normal and ordinary usage,” the court wrote.
Mr. Yost called an appeal a “no brainer,” saying he will seek an immediate stay of the appeals court’s decision.
“There is no way I’ll stop fighting to protect these unprotected children,” he said. “Ohio’s elected representatives properly passed legislation protecting children from irreversible chemical sex-change procedures, and the trial court upheld the law. But now the 10th District Court of Appeals has just greenlighted these permanent medical interventions against minors.”
The decision was applauded by the American Civil Liberties Union of Ohio, which acted with a private law firm to represent the minor plaintiffs.
“This win restores the right of trans youth in Ohio to choose vitally important health care, with the support of their families and physicians,” said Freda Levenson, ACLU Ohio legal director. “We are gratified by the court’s decision, which soundly rejects this interference of politicians with Ohioans’ bodily autonomy.
“Although this litigation will likely not end here, we remain fervently committed to preventing this egregious bill from ever again taking effect,” she said.
House Bill 68 — billed as the Saving Ohio Adolescents from Experimentation, or SAFE, Act — was passed solely with Republican votes. They later overrode Mr. DeWine’s veto after he argued such decisions for children should be made by parents and physicians.
Although this case was focused on the medication provisions, the law also bans transition surgery for minors and bars those born biologically male from participating in female-only interscholastic sports.
First Published March 18, 2025, 7:35 p.m.
