An Ohio judge has given the green light to enforce a ban on minors receiving sex change treatments such as surgery and puberty blockers - or what the left calls "gender-affirming care."
Promoting gender-affirming care is a priority of the Democratic party, the mainstream media, and ideologized medical organizations like the American Medical Association.
Advocates of "gender-affirming care" often claim that children struggling with gender dysphoria will become suicidal if their parents do not consent to life-altering treatments.
A number of Republican states have banned gender-affirming care, but Ohio's Republican governor Mike DeWine vetoed his state's ban last year. He said it was too heavy-handed and interfered with parental rights.
The state Senate voted to override DeWine in January, triggering a legal challenge from the far-left American Civil Liberties Union, which sued on behalf of two Franklin County families.
The challengers claimed House Bill 68 violates a provision requiring bills to have one subject. The law bans gender-affirming care for children and also blocks boys from participating in girls' sports.
"An Ohio judge rejected our challenge to HB68, allowing the ban on gender-affirming care for transgender youth to take immediate effect,” the ACLU wrote in response to the ruling. “Make no mistake – we will appeal this decision immediately. The fight for trans youth is not over.”
In a ruling Tuesday, Franklin County Judge Michael Holbrook allowed House Bill 68 to take effect.
The judge said the law "reasonably limits parents’ rights to make decisions about their children’s medical care consistent with the state’s deeply rooted legitimate interest in the regulation of medical profession and medical treatments."
The state's Republican attorney general, Dave Yost applauded the judge's ruling, which he said would protect children from permanent harm.
"The attorney general applauds the trial court’s decision,” spokesman Bethany McCorkle said in a statement. "This case has always been about the Legislature’s authority to enact a law to protect our children from making irreversible medical and surgical decisions about their bodies. The law doesn’t say 'no' forever; it simply says 'not now’ while the child is still growing."
Despite the life-lasting harm that "gender-affirming care" causes to children, it has been endorsed by the American Medical Association, the American Academy of Pediatrics and the American Psychological Association.
Ohio is now the 23rd state to ban so-called gender-affirming care.
