Ohio is just two votes away from criminalizing gender affirming care for transgender youth. At a very basic level, this means that the government is giving itself the legal authority to dictate the medical care of children. Read that again. Ohio's politicians will legislate when, how and if parents can seek medical care for their children.
Forget for a moment that this is about transgender kids. Imagine instead that the government suddenly banned experimental cancer treatments for our sickest kids. The entire state would be up in arms. And yet, trans families like ours feel like we're screaming into a void. Quite simply, there are far too few of us to build momentum and force legislators to back the hell off our kids and our private lives.
Time is running out, and there is simply no time to wax poetic or go into a long description of why this is happening. Opponent testimony (that's us) is expected next week with a full senate vote to enact the law to be held shortly thereafter. This is our last hope. Our last stand to protect our children. Children who have been through enough. Children who are already FIVE TIMES more likely to attempt suicide.
We need you. Our friends and family. Our neighbors. Our educators. Our public safety officers. Our first responders. Our healthcare workers. Our citizens who believe in freedom.
So what are we asking? Send emails. Make phone calls. Share this on social media. Ask everyone you know to stand up and tell our government to leave families alone. Let parents parent and doctors practice medicine. Let the #1 children's hospital in the country do what it does best---provide world-class, evidence-based care for all children. And if you are really committed, show up. Come to Columbus with us and fill the halls of the statehouse. Show the politicians who were elected to represent ALL Ohioans that they are committing fraud. They are playing politics with people's lives.
We're begging. We're at the end of this road and quite frankly, the odds are not in our favor. Good friends and good families will have no choice but to flee the state in order to save their children's lives. How is that OK in this state? In this country? It may be your child, your family next. Extremism knows no boundaries. Here's how you can help today. The clock is ticking.
To make it simple, here are some ideas of what to say on a voicemail message or to a staffer:
"I live in (city) and I'm calling to urge the Senator to VOTE NO on House Bill 68. This bill removes parental freedom to seek medical care for their children. These are private family matters and it's none of the government's business."
"House Bill 68 violates personal freedoms. This law has no place in the United States of America. I urge the senator to vote NO on House Bill 68."
"Vote NO on House Bill 68. Parents alone should be in charge of their children's lives--not the government."
Sample email language:
Dear Senator _________,
I am writing to urge you to vote NO on HB 68. My main objection to this bill is the ban on medical care of transgender youth. This bill puts the government in charge of private family matters. There is no room for this in a free society.
Banning gender affirming care in Ohio attacks an already vulnerable population of adolescents and teenagers. What parents and medical doctors decide is honestly none of our business, and it's certainly not the government's business.
Parents alone should have the freedom in Ohio to seek appropriate, evidence-based medical care for their children WITHOUT government intervention. HB 68 revokes parental freedom and ignores the expertise of Ohio's world-renowned physicians. Politicians should not be playing doctor with children's lives.