Ohio Governor Mike DeWine announced his decision to veto House Bill (HB) 68 – which would ban healthcare for transgender youth across the state – during a press conference on Dec. 29.
Instead, the governor detailed a set of new administrative rules restricting healthcare for all transgender Ohioans, including adults.
During a public comment period that came to a close Monday – yielding thousands of submissions – DeWine’s rules drew heavy criticism from healthcare providers, hospital systems and civil rights groups like the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU).
In response, the Ohio Department of Health (ODH) and Mental Health and Addiction Services (MHAS) released an updated draft of the rules on Wednesday that would eliminate restrictions to healthcare for transgender adults.
“The comments revealed a significant interest in the original draft’s impact on adult patients,” read an accompanying memo. “The revised quality standard rules are now applicable only to care for minors.”
Changes to the rules
As a result of “limited availability of certain medical specialties,” the revised rules expand and modify “options for the mental health professionals included in the required multi-disciplinary care team” the rules require to treat transgender Ohions under the age of 18.
The revised draft also dropped a stipulation that would have required medical ethicists to review the care plans of transgender patients. According to the ODH, the requirement “was never applicable to individual patient care plans but rather to institutional operations.”
The memo also includes language that gives the director of health authority to approve “forms and formats” used to collect medical data around healthcare for all transgender Ohioans, directly addressing concerns around transgender Ohioans’ medical privacy.
However, the rules would still require Ohio healthcare providers to report all transgender patients’ “deidentified” medical information to the state of Ohio every 30 days, including any diagnosis of gender dysphoria and “any medical or surgical service (including physician services, inpatient and outpatient hospital services, or prescription drugs or hormones).”
After the rules head to the Ohio Sense Initiative for review, the draft will be filed with the bipartisan Joint Committee on Agency Rule Review (JCARR).
JCARR members determine if the rules “exceed the rule-making authority” of the agency, and could choose to reject the rules entirely.
LGBTQ+ advocates respond
Statewide LGBTQ+ advocacy organization Equality Ohio also issued a statement in part thanking the Ohio Health Department’s for directly addressing concerns voiced during the comment period.
“Clarifying that these draft rules are not applicable to adult care was of critical importance and will be a massive relief to thousands of transgender people receiving care in Ohio who have spent the last few weeks scrambling to make contingency plans in case their care is cut off,” said Siobhan Boyd-Nelson, co-interim executive director.
Boyd-Nelson also expressed reservations about some language still remaining in the draft and called for the draft rules to be rescinded in their entirety.
“The requirements around data collection including mandating that reports be sent directly to the General Assembly – the same legislative body that has spent years directly attacking transgender people and ignoring the will of parents, kids, and providers – puts transgender people at increased risk of continued discrimination,” Boyd-Nelson said “Healthcare decisions are fundamentally private and transgender Ohioans, like all Ohioans, deserve dignity and agency with regards to their medical decisions.” 🔥
IGNITE ACTION
- To register to vote or to check your voter eligibility status in the state of Ohio, click here.
- To find contact information for your Ohio state representative, click here.
- To find contact information for your Ohio senator, click here.
- To access the full Trans Legislation Tracker, click here.
- For more information on active designated hate groups across Ohio, click here.
- If you are a young person struggling, contact the Trevor Project: 866-4-U-Trevor.
- If you are an adult in need of immediate help, contact the National Trans Lifeline: 877-565-8860
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