Editor’s Note: This story was published hours before an Ohio court issued a temporary restraining order halting a statewide ban on healthcare for transgender youth.
During a public hearing Monday afternoon, members of a state regulatory committee approved two new administrative rules, restricting access to healthcare for transgender youth across the state.
Earlier this year, Ohio Governor Mike DeWine proposed the set of proposed administrative rules after vetoing Republican-led House Bill (HB) 68 – a near total ban on healthcare for transgender people under 18, including certain types of family counseling and talk therapy.
Just days after DeWine announced the veto, Republican lawmakers returned early from their winter break to override the governor.
With HB 68 set to take effect beginning April 24, members of the Joint Committee on Agency Rule Review (JCARR) – a bipartisan committee tasked with reviewing new, amended, and rescinded rules from more than 100 state agencies to ensure proper compliance – approved two portions of the Ohio Department of Health’s (ODH)’s revised rules, further restricting access healthcare for transgender youth.
Approving new rules for transgender youth
JCARR members voted to approve two of ODH’s five-rule package:
- Rule 3701-59-06: Hospital Quality Standards for Gender Reassignment Surgery and Genital Gender Reassignment Surgery for Minors.
- Rule 3701-83-60: Health Care Facility Quality Standards for Gender Reassignment Surgery and Genital Gender Reassignment Surgery for Minors.
The two rules codify a blanket ban on gender-affirming surgical procedures for transgender minors, which the Ohio Children’s Hospital Association (OCHA) have repeatedly testified are not currently performed at any licensed hospital or medical facility anywhere in the state.
Additionally, the rules ban both direct and indirect referrals to surgical care for minors, which includes conversations between patients and healthcare providers that “in any way [facilitate] such care at another facility or [provide] any resources or information on where or how to receive such care.”
Doctors and other healthcare providers testified the rule could leave young transgender people with dangerous gaps in care.
While gender-affirming surgical procedures are not performed on minors at any licensed hospital or medical facility in the state of Ohio, transgender youth do receive direct or indirect referrals for gender-affirming surgical procedures from their healthcare providers before turning 18 years old.
Under HB 68, a physician could face sanctions for “conduct that aids and abets” certain types of healthcare for transgender youth – including writing prescriptions for puberty suppressants and hormone replacement therapies or providing direct or indirect referrals for gender-affirming care to healthcare providers outside of Ohio.
Often, consultations for gender-affirming surgical procedures are scheduled months, even years in advance based on referrals from a patient’s primary care physician.
Without access to appointment referrals in their late teens, young transgender people could face disruptions to the personalized healthcare plans crafted by their medical teams even after they become legal adults.
Reporting transgender Ohioans’ medical data
In a last-minute change, a third proposed administrative rule requiring healthcare providers to report transgender patients’ “de-identified” medical information directly to the state was pulled from the hearing agenda at ODH’s request.
Rule 3701-3-17 – now set to be re-filed, likely after additional public hearings – will require healthcare providers to report transgender patients’ medical information directly to state agencies every 30 days. The rule also requires that transgender patients’ data be made available directly to lawmakers every six months.
If approved, the rule would track transgender patients under the same administrative codes that regulate public health data collection around infectious diseases like Cholera, Diphtheria, Measles, Plague, Rabies, Hepatitis A and Syphilis.
The Buckeye Flame could not find any other instances in which state agencies collect or report a patients’ medical data based on their gender identity.
Transgender Ohioans, Democratic leaders oppose new rules
Hundreds of doctors, healthcare providers and medical researchers – including representatives from the Ohio Psychological Association – have testified against the rules, citing concerns around safety, privacy, medical violence and anti-LGBTQ+ discrimination.
“One of the most significant concerns the Ohio Psychological Association (OPA) has with this rule package is the reporting requirements,” a representative said during an ODH public hearing last month, telling lawmakers the rule could “create a chilling effect.”
During two separate public hearings, legal and medical experts told the ODH and the Ohio Department of Mental Health and Addiction Services (OMHAS) the rule could stoke fear, damage doctor-patient relationships and even prevent mental healthcare providers from offering care for transgender patients entirely.
Senate Minority Leader Nickie J. Antonio (D-Lakewood) condemned the passage of the rules.
“The passage of these rules is unnecessary, confusing and will drive away young people and businesses from our state,” said Antonio in a statement. “Ohio cannot truly be a welcoming state while we continue to stigmatize marginalized Ohioans and take away a family’s right to make their own health care decisions.”
What happens next?
Ohio is also set to ban puberty suppressants and hormone replacement therapies for transgender youth under HB 68 – rejecting the general medical consensus of hundreds of thousands of doctors and healthcare professionals, including the American Medical Association and the American Academy of Pediatrics.
The American Civil Liberties Union of Ohio (ACLU) has filed a lawsuit on behalf of two Ohio families raising transgender children hoping to halt the legislation from taking effect beginning April 24.
In the interim, LGBTQ+ non-profits and community networks have created emergency funds to assist families with relocation expenses before transgender minors lose access to healthcare.
JCARR members are scheduled to meet next on May 13. 🔥
IGNITE ACTION
- To learn more about TransOhio’s emergency fund, click here.
- If you are a young LGBTQ+ person in crisis, please contact the Trevor Project: 866-4-U-Trevor.
- If you are an transgender adult in need of immediate help, please contact the National Trans Lifeline: 877-565-8860
- To access the full Trans Legislation Tracker, click here.
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