Ohio bill would punish doctors who help transgender kids transition. Opponents decry 'fear-mongering.'

COLUMBUS – A new Ohio bill seeks to restrict gender-identity medical treatments for transgender youth by penalizing the doctors who prescribe them.

Republican Reps. Ron Hood of Ashville and Bill Dean of Xenia plan to introduce the "Protect Vulnerable Children Act" this week.

Hood told The Enquirer physicians could be charged with a third-degree felony for attempting therapeutic or surgical procedures intended to alter the gender of someone under age 18. Parents could also file civil lawsuits against physicians for providing treatment.

"My number one concern, by far and away, is the irreversible nature of these procedures," Hood said. "These procedures, most of them, lead to sterilization. And these things are not reversible." 

A similar bill has been introduced in Kentucky and several other states. The South Dakota legislature rejected a transgender treatment bill on Monday, with one Republican saying the issue should be left to families, not government. Supporters argued children shouldn't be subjected to medical interventions and the legislation is meant to protect them.

The Ohio effort was swiftly criticized by Dr. Scott Leibowitz, a psychiatrist and medical director of behavioral health at Nationwide Children's Hospital's THRIVE Gender Development Program. Leibowitz said the bill pits the Hippocratic oath against the law.

“It’s a double standard to completely withhold a form of known beneficial medical interventions for this population when we provide medical interventions and treatment for youth for other medical conditions,” Leibowitz told The Enquirer.

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Medical treatment

The American Academy of Pediatrics recommends physicians take a "gender-affirming," non-judgmental approach and also discuss risks and benefits to medical interventions.

Ohio is home to several comprehensive clinical programs for transgender youth including Akron Children's Hospital, Cincinnati Children's Hospital and Nationwide Children's Hospital in Columbus.

The programs incorporate mental health services with medical treatments. Leibowitz said medical interventions are not prescribed for prepubescent children. Genital surgery is not performed on patients under 18 but, Leibowitz said, chest surgery can be appropriate for older youth, after years living as the opposite gender. Nationwide Children's does not perform gender-affirming surgeries.

More frequent is the use of "puberty blockers," which delay voice changes, breast development and other secondary sex characteristics by blocking testosterone or estrogen. Puberty blockers are "almost completely reversible," according to the Cincinnati Children's transgender health clinic.

A U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention study found about 1.8% of high school students identify as transgender and 34% of transgender youth attempted suicide in the past 12 months. A recent survey of more than 20,000 transgender adults found people who received gender-related medical treatment as teens were less likely to have suicidal thoughts.

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Support for the bill

At least 10 states have introduced bills banning gender-related medical treatment for teens according to organizations that track transgender legislation: Colorado, Florida, Illinois, Iowa, Kentucky, Missouri, New Hampshire, Oklahoma, South Dakota and Tennessee. The New Hampshire bill would classify drug treatments or surgery intended to alter gender as child abuse. 

The Ohio bill is backed by Citizens for Community Values, a Columbus-based Christian conservative lobbying group. Aaron Baer, the group's president, said government should intervene when children are in danger. Baer said parents have little choice to oppose gender treatments, noting a Cincinnati case where a judge revoked custody of a teen after the parents wouldn’t allow them to begin hormone treatment.

CCV brought two mothers, a grandmother and a physician to the Statehouse to speak in support of the bill Tuesday. The parents and grandmother declined to provide their names, so The Enquirer is not repeating their accusations against medical providers in this story. 

One mom who called herself "Maria" said many parents are afraid to speak out, afraid to lose their jobs and afraid “trans activists will find them and bring them into silence."

Dr. John Wells Logan, a pediatrician at Nationwide Children's Hospital, said gender treatments are "social experimentation."

"The problem is these are children," Logan said. "And they're being coerced by medical providers who've been influenced by the political climate to make decisions that can be life altering."

Logan, a neonatologist, told The Enquirer he had not treated any youth dealing with gender identity issues. Last year, Logan testified in support of Ohio's heartbeat abortion ban.

Opposition to the bill

Leibowitz said transgender care involves families and teens as well as social workers and mental health experts. He pushed back on the notion that anyone is coerced into treatment. 

"These are fear-mongering tactics to prevent youth from receiving the evidence-based care they so desperately need and time and time again has proven to lead to positive emotional and psychological well being for an under-served population," Leibowitz said.

LGBTQ advocacy group Equality Ohio plans to fight the legislation until the end of the session, communications director Grant Stancliff said. Stancliff said even if the bill doesn't pass, its existence in Ohio will harm young LGBTQ people.

"Trans kids are going to hear this debate," Stancliff said. "They’re going to hear people say they are worthy of support and medical care like everyone else and they're going to hear people say they’re not."