An Ohio county judge upheld the state's law banning transgender surgeries and similar treatments for people under 18 on Wednesday, months after the state legislature enacted the law despite a veto from Republican Gov. Mike DeWine.
Franklin County Judge Michael Holbrook issued the ruling in Moe v. Yost, finding that the law "reasonably limits parents' rights to make decisions about their children's medical care consistent with the State’s deeply rooted legitimate interest in the regulation of medical profession and medical treatments."
The full scope of the law bans transgender surgeries and hormone therapies for minors unless they are already undergoing such therapies and a doctor deems it a risk to stop such treatments. In addition to these measures, the law includes restrictions on certain forms of gender counseling a minor can receive, and it also prohibits biological males from taking part in girls' and women's sports.
Holbrook wrote that Ohio has a "legitimate government interest" to protect the health and safety of its citizens, noting that transition surgery for underdeveloped minors "carries with it undeniable risk and permanent outcomes."
"Indeed, countries once confident in the administration of gender affirming care to minors are now reversing their position as a result of the significant inconsistencies in results and potential side effects of the care," Holbrook added.
Republican Attorney General Dave Yost applauded the ruling in a statement through a spokeswoman on Wednesday.
"This case has always been about the legislature's authority to enact a law to protect our children from making irreversible medical and surgical decisions about their bodies," Yost's spokeswoman said. "The law doesn't say 'no' forever; it simply says 'not now' while the child is still growing."
The American Civil Liberties Union of Ohio, which helped file the lawsuit, announced it would appeal the ruling "immediately," with the court docket showing that a notice of appeal has been filed.
"While this decision by the court is a genuine setback, it is not the end of the road in our fight to secure the constitutional rights of transgender youth, as well as all Ohioans’ right to bodily autonomy," ACLU of Ohio legal director Freda Levinson said .
The case out of Ohio is just one of several across the country concerning state laws that aim to prevent minors from undergoing transgender procedures. Ohio was the 23rd state at the time to ban such procedures for young patients, and the Supreme Court is preparing to weigh a similar dispute out of Tennessee in its next term.
President Joe Biden's administration is challenging Tennessee's similar measure, arguing it violates the Equal Protection Clause of the 14th Amendment.
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Holbrook addressed the matter head-on in the Ohio dispute, contending that the Supreme Court's 2000 ruling in Troxel v. Granville held "it cannot now be doubted that the Due Process Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment protects the fundamental rights of parents to make decisions ... and control of their children."
"Likewise, the Ohio Supreme Court has recognized that parents have a fundamental liberty interest in the care, custody, and management of their children," Holbrook added.
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