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In vetoing the proposed ban on gender-affirming care for minors, DeWine said that such care saves lives. In overriding DeWine’s veto and putting the ban into law, Ohio lawmakers argued that such care shouldn’t be offered to minors.
Policies proposed by DeWine and state agencies would, among other things, require more specialists — such as psychiatrists, endocrinologists and medical ethicists — to be involved in gender-affirming care plans at health care facilities that provide gender-affirming care, according to draft administrative rules from the Ohio Department of Health.
People in the LGBT community, particularly people who are transgender, are at increased risks of attempting suicide, particularly if faced with discrimination, bullying, and/or threats or acts of physical harm.
Gender-affirming medical care can include a range of medical interventions designed to support and affirm an individual’s gender identity, including hormonal treatment or surgery, according to the World Health Organization. Some transgender people seek medical or surgical transition, others do not.
Researchers associated with the Trevor Project, an organization with the goal of ending suicide among LGBTQ young people, found gender-affirming medical care, such as hormone therapy, is associated with positive mental health outcomes, including showing promise for reducing suicide risk, as published in 2021 peer-reviewed study in the Journal of Adolescent Health.
Those researchers found gender-affirming hormone therapy is significantly related to lower rates of depression, suicidal thoughts and suicide attempts among transgender and nonbinary young people.
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