Ohio court overturns state ban on gender-affirming care for trans youth
- ️Wed Mar 19 2025
A state appeals court overturned Ohio’s ban on gender-affirming care for transgender youth, preserving access to such treatments in Ohio and the latest development in a year-long battle over the law.
A three-judge panel on the 10th District Court of Appeals ruled Tuesday that the ban is “unconstitutional on its face” and imposed a permanent injunction on the statute — which means families of transgender children will be able to access gender-affirming medical treatments, such as puberty blockers and hormone therapy, within the state.
“We find a minor’s access to puberty blockers and hormone therapy to treat gender dysphoria … is the type of medical decision parents have a fundamental interest in making on behalf of their children,” the judges wrote. “Such a sweeping and inflexible ban on parents’ ability to access medical care for their children is not narrowly tailored to advance the state’s articulated interest: the protection of children.”
The legal battle is likely to continue — with the case appearing before the Ohio Supreme Court — as state leaders immediately promised to challenge the ruling. “We are appealing that decision and will seek an immediate stay. There is no way I’ll stop fighting to protect these unprotected children,” Ohio Attorney General Dave Yost said in a statement Tuesday. “Ohio’s elected representatives properly passed legislation protecting children from irreversible chemical sex change procedures, and the trial court upheld the law.”
Trans rights advocates rejoiced over the appeals court’s decision. Many of them have battled the statute since its introduction in the Ohio Statehouse more than a year ago. “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, legal director at the ACLU of Ohio, which represented the plaintiffs in the case. “Although this litigation will likely not end here, we remain fervently committed to preventing this egregious bill from ever again taking effect.”
The ruling on Tuesday follows a lengthy clash over the Ohio law, which split the state’s Republican Party and has left some Ohio families in the lurch — debating whether to move out of state or anxiously await court rulings.
The Ohio Statehouse in December 2023 passed the Saving Adolescents From Experimentation Act, or SAFE Act, which prohibited hormone therapy, puberty blockers and gender-reassignment surgery for people under 18. The measure also prohibited transgender girls from playing on sports teams designated for girls and women in high school and college, known as the Save Women’s Sports Act.
Gov. Mike DeWine (R) spent nearly two weeks consulting medical professionals and families with transgender children, ultimately vetoing the bill and breaking from fellow Republican governors on the issue of gender-affirming care. Ohio legislators in January 2024 overrode DeWine’s veto, making the bill law.
In March 2024, two families sued in Franklin County Court to stop the ban. In August, Franklin County Judge Michael J. Holbrook upheld the law, allowing the ban to go into effect — which the American Civil Liberties Union and its Ohio chapter appealed. The 10th District Court of Appeals’s decision on Tuesday allows families of trans youth to resume gender-affirming care in the state.
“Today is a great day for trans youth, justice, and the people of Ohio. It is proof of a system under attack but not destroyed by ignorant hatred. We don’t know what the future holds, but today it is once again legal in Ohio to receive and provide most gender-affirming care at any age, in alignment with international best practices,” said Dara Adkison, executive director of advocacy group TransOhio.
National medical associations, including the American Medical Association and the American Academy of Pediatrics, have said gender-affirming care for trans children is medically necessary and appropriate.
But the issue has been a flash point nationwide. President Donald Trump on the campaign trail promised to drive “transgender insanity” out of schools. Since taking office, his administration has taken aim at protections for transgender people, including signing an executive order attempting to end federal support for gender-transition care for people under the age of 19.
Meanwhile, nearly two dozen states have passed bills similar to Ohio’s. Proponents argue that such measures protect children’s health; opponents argue that the bills are not supported by science and infringe on transgender people’s rights.
Like Ohio’s, many bans are mired in legal challenges.
Supreme Court justices in December heard oral arguments in a case challenging a Tennessee law that bans gender transition care for youth — the first opportunity the justices have to consider the constitutionality of such restrictions. The high court’s decision could determine whether gender-affirming care bans across the nation will stand.