OAN’s Abril Elfi
8:07 AM – Sunday, January 7, 2024
Ohio Governor Mike DeWine has issued an executive order banning hospitals from performing gender-affirming surgeries on minors.
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About a week after vetoing a bill that would have banned all gender-affirming care for minors, including hormone therapy and puberty blockers, DeWine (R-Ohio) announced an executive order on Friday that will immediately prohibit transition-related surgeries for minors in the state.
“A week has gone by, and I still feel just as strongly as I did that day,” DeWine said at a news conference, reaffirming his decision to veto the broader ban. “I believe the parents, not the government, should be making these crucial decisions for their children.”
In addition to announcing his new executive order at the press conference, DeWine expressed concern about “fly-by-night” clinics that offer hormone therapy to transgender adults “without the lead-in psychiatric care that we know is so very, very important.”
Consequently, he declared that the Ohio Department of Health and Department of Mental Health and Addiction Services would adopt and implement new administrative guidelines for adults and minors seeking transition-related care following a public comment period.
These regulations would apply to those receiving transition-related care and include that informed consent must be given by patients before beginning treatment and after being informed of the risks associated with receiving gender-affirming care.
Patients must also undergo psychological counseling prior to beginning hormone therapy or other treatments for gender dysphoria, which is the distress caused by a mismatch between an individual’s assigned sex at birth and their gender identity.
The World Professional Association for Transgender Health, a nonprofit professional organization devoted to transgender health care, has generally discouraged surgery for minors.
When minors do undergo surgery, it is typically a double mastectomy, sometimes referred to as top surgery, and they stated that minors are never eligible for genital surgery.
A three-fifths majority vote in the Ohio General Assembly, which is led by a Republican supermajority, would be required to override the veto of the governor.
According to reports, the Ohio House intends to vote on the override as soon as it reconvenes from its early winter break.
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