DeWine signs executive order banning gender transition surgeries for minors in Ohio

COLUMBUS — Gov. Mike DeWine announced Friday that he signed an executive order enacting emergency rules that ban gender transition surgeries for minors at any hospital or ambulatory surgical center in the state. The ban is effective immediately.

“This will ensure that surgeries of this type with minors could never happen in Ohio. I know that’s one of the concerns that has been expressed; I’ve never disagreed with that,” DeWine said.

News Center 7 will break down today’s developments tonight on News Center 7 at 5 p.m.

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The governor also announced that the Ohio Department of Health and the Ohio Department of Mental Health and Addiction Services would be filing rules for public comment that would “provide protections for children and adults receiving care” in those areas of hospitals and clinics.

The drafted rules to be discussed will include:

• Requirements of a multi-disciplinary team to support an individual through care including, but not limited to an endocrinologist, a bioethicist, and a psychiatrist
• A comprehensive care plan that includes sufficient informed consent from patients and parents, if dealing with a child, of the risk associated with treatment
• Requirement of comprehensive and lengthy mental health counseling before being considered for any other treatment

DeWine also announced that the Ohio Department of Health would be filing rules for public comment that would require healthcare providers across the state to report identified data. That data would be shared at an aggregate level on cases of gender dysphoria and subsequent treatments.

These new developments come a week after DeWine vetoed House Bill 68, the controversial bill aimed at banning gender-affirming care for minors and blocking transgender student-athletes from practicing in girls’ and women’s sports.

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