Ohio House Bill 68 - Gender-affirming care ban AND trans athlete ban
Ohio House Bill 68 bans gender-affirming care for transgender youth, prevent healthcare providers from helping patients receive gender affirming care in other states and more. The Ohio House Public Health Policy Committee amended this bill to include the provisions in House Bill 6, which bans transgender women and girls from competing in school sports in Ohio.
H.B. 68 passed out of the Ohio House on June 21, 2023 and out of the Ohio Senate on December 13, 2023. It was vetoed by Governor DeWine on December 29, 2022. The Ohio House voted to override the veto on January 10, 2024, and the Ohio Senate also voted to override the veto on January 24, 2024. The bill will become law in April 2024.
Ohio House Bill 68 bans gender-affirming care for transgender youth, prevent healthcare providers from helping patients receive gender affirming care in other states and more. The Ohio House Public Health Policy Committee amended this bill to include the provisions in House Bill 6, which bans transgender women and girls from competing in school sports in Ohio.
H.B. 68 passed out of the Ohio House on June 21, 2023 and out of the Ohio Senate on December 13, 2023. It was vetoed by Governor DeWine on December 29, 2022. The Ohio House voted to override the veto on January 10, 2024, and the Ohio Senate also voted to override the veto on January 24, 2024. The bill will become law in April 2024.
Ohio House Bill 68:
- Prohibits physicians from prescribing cross-sex hormones or puberty blockers, and from performing any type of sex reassignment surgery on minors
- Prohibits healthcare providers from helping patients get gender affirming care in other states, outlawing conduct that “aids and abets”
- Prohibits mental health professionals from diagnosing or treating a minor with a gender-related condition without consent of the patient’s legal guardian and screening the patient for comorbidities, physical, sexual, mental, and emotional abuse and other trauma
- Prohibits courts from considering a parent’s refusal to accept a child’s trans identity in custody cases, including misgendering, deadnaming, and denying access to counseling for their child
- Prohibits Medicaid from covering gender transition services
- Prohibits transgender girls and women from competing on female sports teams at the K-12 and collegiate levels in Ohio
"Ohio's youth, young adults, and their families deserve more. They deserve better from the adults and leaders put into positions of power in interest of supporting and protecting their inalienable rights. Legislation and policies such as House Bill 68 do nothing to protect any child or young person; instead, only further marginalize. This is bullying behavior."
- Erin Upchurch, MSSA, LISW-S (She/Her)
KYC Executive Director
Gender-affirming care is recommended and considered best practice for trans youth by accredited associations, including:
- American Academy of Pediatricians
- The Endocrine Society
- American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry
- American Psychiatric Association
