Surgeries for minors are rare and are generally not recommended by medical associations, most of which oppose broad bans on transition-related care.

Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine announced an executive order Friday that will immediately ban transition-related surgeries for minors in the state, about a week after vetoing a bill that would have banned all gender-affirming care for minors, including puberty blockers and hormone therapy.

“A week has gone by, and I still feel just as firmly as I did that day,” DeWine said at a news conference Friday, reaffirming his decision to veto the broader ban. “I believe the parents, not the government, should be making these crucial decisions for their children.”

DeWine’s executive order makes Ohio the second state to specifically ban transition-related surgeries for minors after Arizona passed such a law in 2022.

Since 2021, more than 20 states have enacted broader transgender health care laws like the one DeWine vetoed last week. These measures restrict all gender-transition care for minors, including access to puberty blockers and hormone therapy. A judge struck down such a law in Arkansas in June, and judges have issued temporary blocks, either partial or full, against restrictions in Florida, Georgia, Montana, Idaho and Indiana.

Major medical associations — including the American Medical Association, the American Academy of Pediatrics and the American Psychological Association — support minors’ access to gender-affirming care and oppose state bans.

  • @[email protected]
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    556 months ago

    Nothing like performative legislation that does (almost) nothing other than turn on a spotlight on the latest group to be hated and dehumanized.

    • @[email protected]
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      96 months ago

      On the other hand, doesn’t this take the wind out of the sails of most of the anti-trans block’s arguments? With this “what-if” banned all of the remaining arguments are pretty clearly irrational, religious, or generally indefensible.

      • @[email protected]
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        46 months ago

        This is obviously an enormously complicated topic that there’s a lot of misinformation and opinions out there on, but ultimately speaking my problem with it, other than the fact it will very obviously be applied in a discriminatory way, is that bigots don’t stop pushing because you give them an inch.

  • @[email protected]
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    506 months ago

    I’m guessing intersex kids are still going to still going to have surgeries performed on them without their consent, though.

    • @[email protected]
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      436 months ago

      I’m in no way equating the two because non-consensual surgeries on intersex kids have potential to be far more damaging, but I’m sure infant male genital mutilation will continue as well.

    • @[email protected]
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      26 months ago

      This executive order specifically bans those, assuming the state of being intersex is relevant to the surgery and the surgery is cosmetic.

  • themeatbridge
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    386 months ago

    They gonna ban jetpacks next? Maybe a ban on breeding snipes? Ohio is going to pass the superhero registration act?

      • themeatbridge
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        6 months ago

        Yes, but exceptionally rare. Anyone who has one is probably an outlier, and banning them from schools, for examle, would be a waste of time.

    • gregorum
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      6 months ago

      eh… you may not have noticed, but jetpacks are real now. they’ve been around in various forms for a few years and are getting kinda impressive.

      • Flying Squid
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        36 months ago

        Gender affirming surgery is also real. It is almost never performed on minors, but can be performed on intersex minors. Except not in Ohio anymore apparently.

  • AItoothbrush
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    276 months ago

    But i guess they are going to continue cutting off parts of male infant genitalia…

      • @[email protected]
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        26 months ago

        It’s worse because most of that in the US isn’t done in the name of religion but of tradition based on pseudoscience. There isn’t even an invisible man excuse.

        • @[email protected]
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          16 months ago

          It’s like corn flakes or graham crackers… It’s only around to keep crazy people from masturbating.

  • @[email protected]M
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    176 months ago

    How is that even something that falls under the authority of an executive order? Seems like pretty dubious legal ground anyway.

    • @[email protected]
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      96 months ago

      Imagine being born with ovaries but no vagina. Does that happen? I’m pretty sure the Republican plan for them would be to wait until they are dying of sepsis before taking the minimum necessary steps to keep them alive.

  • Veloxization
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    166 months ago

    Yes, let’s outlaw a thing that barely happens at all. Because that’s the most important issue that needs to be focused on.

  • MxM111
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    6 months ago

    Are we going to regulate by law medical treatment now? This is the party of “small government”??? More like party of “Culture warriors”.

  • @[email protected]
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    106 months ago

    Of course coming right after the victory on HB68 getting shot down (thankfully!).

    Because surgeries are very rare for anyone under 18, I think the bigger impact to DeWine’s order is the requirement of youth or ADULTS needing to have psychiatric care AND endocrinologist involved as pre-reqs before starting any kind of medical care. This is a bigger deal because some people will be blocked by the religious therapists out there, and in smaller communities finding and endo can be hard and more expensive. This definitely hurts the trans community.