**HB 68 UPDATES**
August 6, 2024
Judge ruled against the ACLU of Ohio's challenge to House Bill 68, Ohio’s law banning gender-affirming medical care for trans youth, and prohibiting trans women and girls from participating in sports. The ACLU of Ohio filed an appeal with the 10th Circuit Court of Appeals.
April 30, 2024:
Judge extends temporary restraining order on enforcement of HB 68,
expires May 20, 2024
April 16, 2024:
Judge issues 14-day temporary restraining order on enforcement of HB 68
March 26, 2024:
ACLU, ACLU Ohio, Ohio family file lawsuit challenging
unconstitutionality and discrimination in HB 68
•••
House Bill 68 to become law in April 2024
Ohio Senate and House Override HB 68 Veto
On January 24, 2024, the Ohio Senate voted 24-8 to override Governor DeWine's veto of House Bill 68.
The Senate vote follows the House override vote of 65-28 on January 10.
House Bill 68 is set to become law 90 days after the Senate vote, likely on April 23, 2024.
Governor DeWine vetoed HB 68 on December 29 (watch the announcement HERE),
after the House and Senate passed an amended House Bill 68 on December 13.
House Bill 68 bans life-saving gender affirming care for minors,
forcing Ohio families out of state to access expert, professional medical care.
HB 68 also bans trans girls and trans women from playing on school sports teams
aligning with their gender identity, forcing families to move out of state
if trans students want to play school sports.
Support & Resources
(from our families at Equality Ohio, TransOhio, Trans Allies of Ohio, Kaleidoscope Youth Center)
Immediate Steps for Impacted Communities:
STEP 1
Schedule a discussion with your current provider to address
current needs and explore options for continued care.
STEP 2
If you reside in Ohio and your child is not currently receiving transition-related medical care,
talk to your medical providers about what options should be considered.
STEP 3
Explore support resources and learn more about the
Southern Trans Youth Emergency Project HERE and find assistance identifying care HERE
Emergency Resources:
Resource Guide for Trans Community
TransOhio Emergency Resources
Campaign for Southern Equality Emergency Resources
TransOhio Analysis of Rules
STYEP Resources
ACLU Ohio FAQs about Gender Affirming Care
•
Youth Support
Kaleidoscope Youth Center
Colors+
•
Legal Support
Join Equality Ohio Legal Clinic Attorney Referral Network HERE
Contact Equality Ohio Legal Clinic HERE
Join Defenders of Equality
LGBTQ+ Organizations:
EqualityOhio • TransOhio • Trans Allies of Ohio • Kaleidoscope Youth Center
LOVEBoldly • Diversity Center of NEO • Trevor Project • Human Rights Campaign
Equitas Health • PFLAG CLE • The Buckeye Flame and more...
🏳️⚧️ Ohio is Home 🏳️⚧️
Ohio is OUR home. No Ohioan should be forced to leave the state to access life-saving medical care
for their child or move out of state to participate in school sports.
Gender-affirming care saves lives and inclusive school sports enrich the lives of countless Ohio students every day.
Private medical decisions about Ohio youth belong to the student, their families,
and trained medical experts, NOT POLITICIANS!
HB 68 is extreme government overreach and state-sponsored bullying
of trans and gender non-conforming Ohioans.
Discrimination and hate have NO HOME IN OHIO.
HOUSE BILL 68
Summary of House Bill 68
Passed January 24, 2024
|
SPONSOR(S)
Rep. Gary Click (District 88) TARGETS LGBTQ+ students, especially trans and gender diverse students Healthcare providers Mental healthcare providers Family courts The Department of Health DESCRIPTION Prohibits a physician from knowingly prescribing hormones or puberty blocking drug to a minor for the purpose of assisting with gender transition; Prohibits a physician from aiding or abetting those prohibited practices; Permits a physician to continue to prescribe hormone or puberty-blocking drug to a minor after the bill’s effective date under specified circumstances; Prohibits a mental health professional from diagnosing or treating a minor for a gender related condition without first obtaining the consent of at least one parent or legal custodian, or the minor’s guardian; Prohibits a mental health professional from diagnosing or treating a minor for a gender related condition without screening the minor for other comorbidities, abuse, and traumas during the course of treatment; Establishes penalties for physicians and mental health professionals who engage in conduct the bill prohibits; Prohibits Medicaid coverage of gender transition services for minors |
COMMITTEE
Senate Government Oversight Committee Previously House Public HealthPolicy Committee INTRODUCED February 27, 2023 BIL L General Info | As Passed by House and Senate | Analysis |
What does House Bill 68 do?
DEFINITIONS:
HEALTHCARE PROVIDERS
Physicians cannot:
NEW GRANDFATHER CLAUSE: A physician may continue to prescribe a cross-sex hormone or puberty-blocking drug to a minor if the minor has been a continuous Ohio resident since the effective date of the bill and the physician has done both of the following:
Mental health professionals cannot:
Medical assistance provided under the medicaid program must not include coverage for gender transition services for minors
Penalties for violations include:
- "Biological sex," "birth sex," and "sex" mean the biological indication of male and female, including sex chromosomes, naturally occurring sex hormones, gonads, and nonambiguous internal and external genitalia present at birth, without regard to an individual's psychological, chosen, or subjective experience of gender
- "Cross-sex hormone" means testosterone, estrogen, or progesterone given to a minor individual in an amount greater than would normally be produced endogenously in a healthy individual of the minor individual's age and sex
- "Gender reassignment surgery" means any surgery performed for the purpose of assisting an individual with gender transition that seeks to surgically alter or remove healthy physical or anatomical characteristics or features that are typical for the individual's biological sex, in order to instill or create physiological or anatomical characteristics that resemble a sex different from the individual's birth sex, including genital or non-genital gender reassignment surgery
- "Gender-related condition" means any condition where an individual feels an incongruence between the individual's gender identity and biological sex. "Gender-related condition" includes gender dysphoria
- "Gender transition" means the process in which an individual goes from identifying with and living as a gender that corresponds to his or her biological sex to identifying with and living as a gender different from his or her biological sex, including social, legal, or physical changes.
- "Gender transition services" means any medical or surgical service (including physician services, inpatient and outpatient hospital services, or prescription drugs or hormones) provided for the purpose of assisting an individual with gender transition that seeks to alter or remove physical or anatomical characteristics or features that are typical for the individual's biological sex, or to instill or create physiological or anatomical characteristics that resemble a sex different from the individual's birth sex, including medical services that provide puberty blocking drugs, cross-sex hormones, or other mechanisms to promote the development of feminizing or masculinizing features in the opposite sex, or genital or non-genital gender reassignment surgery
- "Genital gender reassignment surgery" means surgery performed for the purpose of assisting an individual with gender transition and includes both of the following:
- Surgeries that sterilize, such as castration, vasectomy, hysterectomy, oophorectomy, orchiectomy, and penectomy
- Surgeries that artificially construct tissue with the appearance of genitalia that differs from the individual's biological sex, such as metoidiplasty, phalloplasty, and vaginoplasty
- Surgeries that sterilize, such as castration, vasectomy, hysterectomy, oophorectomy, orchiectomy, and penectomy
- "Non-genital gender reassignment surgery" means surgery performed for the purpose of assisting an individual with gender transition such as augmentation mammoplasty, facial feminization surgery, liposuction, lipofilling, voice surgery, thyroid cartilage reduction, gluteal augmentation, pectoral implants, or other aesthetic procedures
- "Puberty-blocking drugs" means Gonadotropin-releasing hormone analogs or other synthetic drugs used to stop luteinizing hormone and follicle stimulating hormone secretion, synthetic antiandrogen drugs used to block the androgen receptor, or any drug to delay or suppress normal puberty
HEALTHCARE PROVIDERS
Physicians cannot:
- Perform gender reassignment surgery on a minor
- Prescribe a cross-sex hormone or puberty-blocking drug for a minor for the purpose of assisting the minor individual with gender transition
- Engage in conduct that aids or abets in the above practices
NEW GRANDFATHER CLAUSE: A physician may continue to prescribe a cross-sex hormone or puberty-blocking drug to a minor if the minor has been a continuous Ohio resident since the effective date of the bill and the physician has done both of the following:
- Initiated a course of treatment for the minor prior to the effective date the bill that includes the prescription of a cross-sex hormone or puberty blocking drug prohibited by division
- Determined and documented in the minor's medical record that terminating the minor's prescription for the cross-sex hormone or puberty-blocking drug would cause harm to the minor individual
Mental health professionals cannot:
- Diagnose or treat any minor seeking assistance with gender-related conditions without obtaining consent from one of the following:
- At least one parent of the minor
- At least one legal custodian of the minor
- The minor's guardian
- Diagnose or treat a minor who presents for the diagnosis or treatment of a gender-related condition without screening the minor for both of the following during the course of diagnosis and treatment:
- Other comorbidities that may be influencing the minor's gender-related condition, including depression, anxiety, attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, autism spectrum disorder, and other mental health conditions
- Physical, sexual, mental, and emotional abuse and other traumas
Medical assistance provided under the medicaid program must not include coverage for gender transition services for minors
Penalties for violations include:
- Designation of unprofessional conduct and discipline by the applicable professional licensing board
- The attorney general may bring an action to enforce compliance
ATHLETIC TEAMS
HB 68 requires schools, colleges, and universities participating in athletic competitions or events to create separate, single-sex sports teams. This would impact any competition or event administered by a regulating interscholastic athletic conference, national collegiate athletics association, national association of intercollegiate athletics, or national junior college association.
Schools, colleges, and universities must:
PENALTIES
Allows student athletes who suffered harm resulting from a violation of the bill to take action against the school, school district, interscholastic conference, or organization that regulates interscholastic athletics
Allows schools, state institutions, or private colleges that suffered harm resulting from a violation of the bill to take action against the agency, political subdivision, accrediting organization, or athletic association that violates that division
Requires civil action resulting from a violation of the bill to be initiated within two years of the violation
Prohibits agencies, businesses, or other organizations in the state from taking action against the school for complying with the team structure
HB 68 requires schools, colleges, and universities participating in athletic competitions or events to create separate, single-sex sports teams. This would impact any competition or event administered by a regulating interscholastic athletic conference, national collegiate athletics association, national association of intercollegiate athletics, or national junior college association.
Schools, colleges, and universities must:
- Create separate teams for "participants of the female sex within female sports divisions"
- Create separate teams for "participants of the male sex within male sports divisions"
- Create co-ed teams for female and male students within co-ed sports divisions
- Prohibit "individuals of the male sex to participate on athletic teams or in athletic competitions designated only for participants of the female sex"
- Allow any student to participate on male and co-ed teams
PENALTIES
Allows student athletes who suffered harm resulting from a violation of the bill to take action against the school, school district, interscholastic conference, or organization that regulates interscholastic athletics
Allows schools, state institutions, or private colleges that suffered harm resulting from a violation of the bill to take action against the agency, political subdivision, accrediting organization, or athletic association that violates that division
Requires civil action resulting from a violation of the bill to be initiated within two years of the violation
Prohibits agencies, businesses, or other organizations in the state from taking action against the school for complying with the team structure
TAKE ACTION
HOW TO SUBMIT TESTIMONY
**DO NOT SEND TESTIMONY UNTIL THE APPROPRIATE HEARING IS ANNOUNCED**
STEP 1:
PREPARE YOUR TESTIMONY
Read tips for preparing and submitting testimony HERE
STEP 2:
EMAIL TESTIMONY DOCUMENTS TO COMMITTEE
Email a PDF of your testimony & this completed Witness Slip to [email protected]
**IMPORTANT**
Do NOT send your testimony until the appropriate hearing is announced.
You must submit your testimony 24 hours ahead of the scheduled hearing.
Indicate in your email that you are submitting opposition testimony this bill and ask for a confirmation of receipt.
All testimony will be uploaded HERE
STEP 3:
ARRIVE EARLY FOR IN-PERSON TESTIMONY
Arrive at least 1 hour prior to the scheduled hearing
There is convenient parking in the Statehouse Parking Garage
Sign in on the witness roster in the hearing room
**DO NOT SEND TESTIMONY UNTIL THE APPROPRIATE HEARING IS ANNOUNCED**
STEP 1:
PREPARE YOUR TESTIMONY
Read tips for preparing and submitting testimony HERE
STEP 2:
EMAIL TESTIMONY DOCUMENTS TO COMMITTEE
Email a PDF of your testimony & this completed Witness Slip to [email protected]
**IMPORTANT**
Do NOT send your testimony until the appropriate hearing is announced.
You must submit your testimony 24 hours ahead of the scheduled hearing.
Indicate in your email that you are submitting opposition testimony this bill and ask for a confirmation of receipt.
All testimony will be uploaded HERE
STEP 3:
ARRIVE EARLY FOR IN-PERSON TESTIMONY
Arrive at least 1 hour prior to the scheduled hearing
There is convenient parking in the Statehouse Parking Garage
Sign in on the witness roster in the hearing room