COLUMBUS, Ohio — After 20 public hearings on a bill that supporters say would provide guardrails for minors seeking gender-confirming medicines and surgery, House Bill 454 remains stuck in committee.
On Wednesday, 49 people waited to testify but less than half were given an opportunity to speak because the meeting was scheduled for two hours. Watch the full meeting here.
HB 454 would require the following for those seeking gendering-confirming medications:
- Two years of counseling "related to gender dysphoria, mental health, and the risks of gender transition."
- Screening for mental health conditions like depression, anxiety and autism and a confirmation that these conditions have been "treated and stabilized" for two years.
- Screening for physical and/or sexual assault.
- Consultation with a second physician.
Among those who testified against the bill was "Jeopardy!" champion and Dayton native Amy Schneider.
“I am strongly opposed to HB 454 banning gender-confirming health care for minors,” said Schneider.
She testified that if she was a young person today and was denied puberty blockers she believes her life would be ruined.
“I don't know if I could go on living. I hope that I would but I really believe I might not survive,” she said.
The bill’s sponsor amended the bill that no longer includes a ban on gender or cross-sex hormones. State Representative Gary Click said both will be permitted under the amendment.
The bill would bar educators from withholding information on their students’ experiences with gender dysphoria from their parents. Upon passing, the bill would also remove a physician's license who provides gender-confirming care to transgender youth, as well as open up those physicians to civil lawsuits.
Click said he hopes the bill would balance the need to protect minors from getting gendering-confirming surgeries only to regret it later.
“I feel we have made a number of strides to address their concerns, but we have to listen to the kids who have regrets. We have to give children time to figure out who they are without mind-altering drugs like puberty blockers and cross-sex hormones,” he said.
Ohio is not the only state attempting to change the law on the subject.
The Florida Board of Medicine voted Friday to start drafting a rule that would bar all minors in the state from receiving puberty blockers, hormone therapy or surgeries as a treatment for gender dysphoria.