Ohio Governor Decides Kids Can't Choose Their Own Surgery Adventure
Ohio Governor Bans All Gender-Affirming Surgeries For Minors
Ohio Governor DeWine issues a bold decree: No gender-affirming surgeries for minors! A week after vetoing a bill that wanted to meddle with parental choices, he's back with an executive order. Because, you know, parents should totally decide if their kids get surgery. Who cares about pesky trans rights?
Oh, did we mention these surgeries are as rare as a unicorn sighting? Double mastectomies for transmasculine youth – like it's a common weekend activity. But hey, DeWine is making Ohio a trendsetter, the second state after Arizona to slam the surgery door shut.
Not just about kids, though! DeWine worries about "fly-by-night" hormone clinics for adults. Solution? Mandate a squad of specialists, pile on counseling, and collect data like it's a hobby. Because nothing says freedom like a bureaucratic checklist for personal choices.
Joining the 2023 party, Ohio embraces the nationwide trend of making Transgender care feel like scaling Mount Everest. Because who needs easy access to healthcare anyway?
Ohio Governor Mike DeWine has issued an executive order prohibiting all gender-affirming surgeries for minors, accompanied by new administrative rules for transgender individuals of all ages seeking care in the state. This action comes a week after the governor vetoed House Bill 68, which aimed to ban all gender-affirming care for minors, including puberty blockers and hormone therapy, citing concerns about interfering with parental medical decisions.
Gender-affirming surgery for minors is rare, typically involving procedures like double mastectomies to address chest dysphoria in transmasculine youth. The president of the Ohio Children’s Hospital Association clarified that children’s hospitals in the state do not perform such surgeries on minors.
Governor DeWine's executive order positions Ohio as the second state to explicitly ban surgeries for Transgender youth, following Arizona's similar law in 2022. Despite the possibility of the Ohio General Assembly overturning the governor's veto, DeWine's administrative rules extend beyond House Bill 68, encompassing provisions for both trans adults and youth.
Expressing concern about "fly-by-night" clinics, DeWine's rules mandate that patients work with a multidisciplinary team, receive information about risks, provide informed consent, and undergo counseling before gender-affirming treatments. The Ohio Department of Health and the Ohio Department of Mental Health and Addiction Services will enforce these rules after a public comment period, collecting "de-identified data" on Gender dysphoria cases and treatments.
While aimed at ensuring comprehensive care, these rules impose administrative burdens on both transgender youth and adults. They align with broader Republican efforts seen in other states in 2023, where more than 20 enacted bans on gender-affirming care for youth. Examples include Missouri's emergency order requiring therapy and assessments, and Florida's law imposing new requirements for both youth and adults accessing gender-affirming care.
Advocates argue that such restrictions place undue burdens on transgender individuals, limiting access to necessary care. The evolving landscape of state-level policies on transgender healthcare raises complex questions about parental rights, medical autonomy, and the broader societal impact of legislative interventions in this domain.
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