Ohio House Introduces Bill to Prohibit Doctors from Prescribing Cross-Sex Hormones and Puberty Blockers for Minors

COLUMBUS—A bill to ban the experimental and dangerous practice of giving children puberty-blocking drugs and cross-sex hormones for the purpose of “gender transitioning” was introduced in the Ohio House today. House Bill 454 is sponsored by Representatives Gary Click (R-Vickery) and Diane Grendell (R-Chesterland) and is known as the SAFE Act—Save Adolescents from Experimentation Act.

The SAFE Act would make Ohio the second state to ban hospitals and clinics from pushing these dangerous medications on children, along with prohibiting transgender surgeries on children.

“The unmitigated greed of the healthcare industry has led to countless children being mutilated and sterilized for life,” said David Mahan, Policy Director of Center for Christian Virtue, which is backing the bill. “Sadly, hospitals, schools, and even Planned Parenthood facilities across the state are pressuring families to put children on experimental and dangerous procedures. The Ohio General Assembly needs to take action before more children are permanently harmed.”

You can read the bill here.

The use of puberty-blocking hormones and cross-sex hormones on minors can lead to irreversible, permanent, and lifelong sterilization. Surgical interventions lead to permanent disfigurement and scarring, and can lead to major complications, such as physical and sexual malfunction. There are currently at least five gender clinics in Ohio that offer these services for patients under the age of 18.

“The narrative that some would like to bully us into accepting is nothing short of ‘affirmation equals love and healing, and disagreement equals hate and harm,’” Mahan said. “The reality is that permanently medicalizing and potentially sterilizing children for a condition that has an 85% rate of desistance based solely upon self-diagnoses is unethical and a gross violation of the Hippocratic Oath, which states ‘First do no Harm.’ This bill is not about opposing a people group or an ideology. The SAFE Act is about protecting vulnerable children from experimentation and exploitation.”

This is why the time for the SAFE Act is now! CCV applauds Representatives Click and Grendell for introducing this important and life-saving bill, and we urge the General Assembly to pass this bill quickly to make Ohio a safer place for children to be children.

TAKE ACTION NOW

Click the button below to send your Ohio Representative a short email encouraging them to support the SAFE Act.

LEARN MORE

Want to learn more about the SAFE Act (HB 454)? Click here to view the fact sheet!

For more information, contact CCV at 513-733-5775 or info@ccv.org.

As Ohio’s largest Christian public policy organization, Center for Christian Virtue seeks the good of our neighbors by advocating for public policy that reflects the truth of the Gospel. 

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