Ohio Governor Bans All Gender-Affirming Surgeries For Minors

An executive order from Republican Mike DeWine also creates barriers for trans adults.

Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine issued an executive order Friday that will ban all gender-affirming surgeries for minors. The Republican also announced new administrative rules for transgender youth and adults seeking care in the state.

DeWine’s order comes a week after he vetoed House Bill 68, which would have banned all gender-affirming care for minors, including puberty blockers and hormone therapy. Those treatments are the most common forms of care for transgender youth. The governor initially said that if he were to sign the bill, which also would bar trans students from participating in sports, the state would be interfering with parents’ medical decisions for their children.

“A week has gone by, and I still feel just as firmly about that as I did that day,” he said at a news conference Friday morning. “I believe that parents, not the government, should be making these crucial medical decisions for the children.”

Gender-affirming surgery for minors is extremely rare and usually comes in the form of a double mastectomy, also known as top surgery, to relieve chest dysphoria for transmasculine youth.

The president of the Ohio Children’s Hospital Association, Nick Lashutka, who testified before the state legislature, told WCMH-TV, an NBC affiliate in Columbus, that the state’s children’s hospitals never perform any surgeries on minors for gender dysphoria.