LGBTQ+ organizations and local leaders are criticizing another loss of services for transgender youth after Nationwide Children’s Hospital in Columbus announced an end to gender-affirming care prescriptions.
The internationally known children’s hospital said on Sept. 5 it would no longer prescribe gender-affirming medications for its patients, effective Sept. 26.
The decision comes as legal fighting continues in Ohio courts over the Buckeye State’s gender affirming care ban, enacted by the Republican-controlled Ohio legislature in early 2024, and whether it’s constitutional.
“Although we are currently in compliance with state and federal regulations, in order to proactively plan and support our providers and patients in a rapidly changing regulatory environment, Nationwide Children’s providers will discontinue prescribing gender-affirming medications,” Nationwide Children’s said in an emailed statement.
Kaleidoscope Youth Center, a Columbus organization supporting LGBTQ+ youth, said it was “incredibly disappointed” at the hospital’s decision, adding that “service providers in our community should be finding ways to proactively support transgender individuals, rather than proactively discriminating against them.”
The ban, which ultimately passed through a veto override, did allow for children already receiving gender-affirming care to continue if their doctor deemed it medically harmful to stop. That includes receiving medications.
“We are not surprised, but are furious at Nationwide choosing this non-legally mandated discrimination. No kid anywhere deserves to be stigmatized and/or targeted, and trans youth are just kids,” a spokesperson for TransOhio said in an emailed statement. The organization encouraged youth and their families to reach out for support.
Nationwide Children’s said that it “will continue to support these patients and families through the provision of behavioral health services,” and it will work with affected patients to “end their prescriptions, always with patient safety as a top priority.”
Columbus City Council President Shannon G. Hardin, who has been vocal in his support for transgender youth in a guest column for The Dispatch, called it “another example” of elected officials “inserting themselves literally in the doctor’s office of our children.”
“I think that that should terrify all parents, and I think that makes us less safe,” Hardin said, adding that it also damages Ohio’s economy and development. “What parent of any child, trans or not, willingly comes to a state where we let elected officials dictate their child’s health care?”
Back and forth in the Ohio courts
The legal battle for the future of the gender-affirming care ban has been waged since shortly after it was first enacted in early 2024 by the state legislature.
A Franklin County judge ruled in August 2024 that the ban could take effect and doesn’t violate the Ohio Constitution’s health care freedom amendment, as the American Civil Liberties Union of Ohio and the families of two transgender girls they represent contend in their lawsuit.
In March, a three-judge panel of the Tenth District Court of Appeals in Franklin County overturned that decision.
In April, the Ohio Supreme Court ruled that the ban could continue, granting state Attorney General Dave Yost’s request to halt the appellate court decision while the legal fight continues.
The ACLU of Ohio said in a statement that a briefing schedule has been set in the Ohio Supreme Court.
“Even though the ban remains in effect while our lawsuit continues, the ACLU of Ohio will do everything we can to ensure transgender youth receive lifesaving medical care moving forward,” the organization said in an emailed statement.
Are you or a loved one impacted by Nationwide Children’s decision? Contact medical business and health care reporter Samantha Hendrickson at shendrickson@dispatch.com
City government and politics reporter Jordan Laird contributed to this report.
This article originally appeared on The Columbus Dispatch: LGBTQ+ orgs criticize Nationwide Children Hospital’s decision to halt gender-affirming care
Reporting by Samantha Hendrickson, Columbus Dispatch / The Columbus Dispatch
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