state

HB68 Trial Monday: ban on gender surgery on minors held up by Franklin County judge

By Ohio.news on Jul 15, 2024

COLUMBUSFranklin County Common Pleas Court Judge Michael Holbrook will hear arguments Monday in a trial to determine the constitutionality of House Bill 68, which prevents children from undergoing life-altering gender transition surgery and from receiving “puberty blocking” drugs.

 

Freda Levenson, the legal director at the American Civil Liberties Union of Ohio filed a lawsuit on behalf of anonymous complainants, challenging HB68 and is set to go to trial Monday. 

 

HB 68 was initially passed in December by the Ohio General Assembly and then vetoed by Governor Mike DeWine. In January passed a second time with a veto override by the Ohio General Assembly. The legislation protects minors from gender transition surgeries and that requires public and private universities to have separate single-sex teams and sports for each sex.

 

Following its second passage on January 10, Franklin County Common Pleas Judge Michael Holbrook placed a hold on the legislation on April 16, and Attorney General Dave Yost filed an emergency motion with the Ohio Supreme Court which was ultimately denied. 

 

Yost said in an April statement that the Franklin County judge "acted beyond the scope of his power on April 16 in granting a sweeping injunction that placed the entire law on hold for 14 days or until a hearing is held, whichever happens sooner."
 
“One judge from one county does not have more power than the governor’s veto pen,” Yost said.

 

While the Ohio Supreme Court, which holds a Republican majority, denied Yost's emergency motion, the Court did give a nod to the scope of power question raised by the Attorney General. 

 

 "This case raises an important issue: Is it appropriate for one judge in a single county to issue a statewide injunction that goes beyond what is necessary to provide interim relief to the parties in the case," Republican Justice Pat DeWine wrote

 

Republican justices Pat Fischer and Joe Deters joined DeWine's opinion and Chief Justice Sharon Kennedy concurred with a portion of it. 

 

Democrat justices Melody Stewart and Michael Donnelly concurred with DeWine's opinion and Democratic Justice Jennifer Brunner also concurred but wrote, “[T]o suggest that a trial-court judge does not have the power to declare a law facially unconstitutional undermines the central philosophy of why courts exist—to say what the law is.”

 

The implementation of House Bill 68 would catch Ohio up to 22 other states passing similar laws, as well as Sweden, Norway, the U.K., and France, which have stepped back from medically transitioning youth. 

 

Cosponsors of House Bill 68 say they are concerned about Franklin County Common Pleas Court Judge Michael Holbrook Monday trial. 

 

Ohio.news is following the trial. Stay tuned for updates.