April 20, 2023
The Buckeye Art Therapy Association believes in equal access to healthcare for all. We are committed to supporting those who are vulnerable to discriminatory practices which strip away their human rights, compromise personal safety, and perpetuate harm. Thus, we stand in opposition to House Bill 68: the Ohio Saving Adolescents from Experimentation (SAFE) Act, which would ban vital gender-affirming care for trans and non-binary youth.
Ohio House Bill 68 would:
- Prohibit physicians from prescribing cross-sex hormones or puberty blockers, and from performing any type of gender reassignment surgery on minors
- Prohibit healthcare providers from helping patients find gender affirming care in other states, outlawing conduct that “aids and abets”
- Prohibit mental health professionals from diagnosing or treating a minor with a gender-related condition without consent from the patient’s legal guardian and screening the patient for comorbidities, physical, sexual, mental, and emotional abuse and other trauma
- Prohibit courts from considering a parent’s refusal to accept a child’s trans identity (including misgendering, deadnaming, and denying access to counseling for their child) in custody cases
- Prevent any restriction on the practice of “watchful waiting,” an approach in which medical interventions are intentionally withheld
- Mandate that mental health professionals annually report information regarding minors they have treated for gender-related conditions, including number of patients, demographic data on patients (age at diagnosis, sex assigned at birth, comorbidities), and the number of patients who resumed identification with their sex assigned at birth
- Prohibit Medicaid from covering gender transition services
The implications of HB 68 are far-reaching – effecting transgender and non-binary youth, as well as the families, friends, physicians, mental health professionals, family court systems, and social services that endeavor to protect and care for them. To support the communities affected by this proposed legislation, we encourage you to reach out and share the following resources.
Take Action!
Learn More About HB 68 – HB 68 was introduced on February 27, 2023, and received its first hearing for sponsor testimony on Tuesday, April 19th. It is currently housed in the Ohio House Public Health Policy Committee. The House Bill 68 - 135th General Assembly webpage gives you access to the bill text, summary, status, votes, and committee member list. https://ohiohouse.gov/legislation/135/hb68
Ohiohouse.gov – Provides contact information for each member of the Public Health Policy Committee and allows. https://ohiohouse.gov/committees/public-health-policy
ACLU Ohio – Provides a script and pre-filled form for sending a message to the House Public Health Policy Committee. https://action.aclu.org/send-message/protect-trans-youth-stop-hb-68
Human Rights Campaign – By inspiring and engaging individuals and communities, the Human Rights Campaign strives to end discrimination against LGBTQ+ people and realize a world that achieves fundamental fairness and equality for all. https://www.hrc.org/about
TransOhio – TransOhio serves the Ohio transgender and ally communities by providing services, education, support, and advocacy, which promotes and improves the health, safety and life experience of the Ohio transgender individual and community. http://transohio.squarespace.com/
Equality Ohio – Ohio’s statewide LGBTQ+ advocacy and legal aid organization. https://equalityohio.org/
