An Ohio bill banning gender-affirming care and preventing transgender athletes from taking part in girls' and women's sports has been temporarily blocked for two weeks by a judge in Franklin County.
 
The American Civil Liberties Union is arguing in court that House Bill 68 violates the Ohio Constitution because it covers more than one subject.
 
 "It's very validating for all the LBGTQ rights plus advocates, equality advocates, who have been on the forefront, especially these parents who have been testifying for years now saying such a ban would hurt their Trans children," Ken Schneck Editor of The Buckeye Flame said. 
 
"The ACLU on behalf of this plaintiff, a Trans minor, had several different arguments. It looks like the most successful argument here that the ACLU made is this bill House Bill 68 is a couple of different bills all put into one, and Ohio law prohibits that from happening," Schneck added. 
 
 "Our legal battle will continue until, we hope, this cruel restriction is permanently blocked. Ohio families have a constitutional right to make personal health care decisions without government intrusion," Freda Levenson, Legal Director for the ACLU Ohio said.
 
"So this gives a lot of different LBGTQ plus entities the chance to fight against a bill that would harm," Schneck emphasized.
 
 "On one hand you have the republican legislature saying parents should be able to make these decisions, in all other situations seemingly, unless parents have Trans children. Republicans are stepping up saying parents don't have the rights to make this decision for their children," Editor of The Buckeye Flame Schneck said. 
 
 But House and Senate Republicans who overrode Governor Mike DeWine's veto say their ban helps protect children from making irreversible, often harmful decisions and helps protect girls and women.
 
The ruling has both sides digging in.
 
Ohio's Attorney General Dave Yost states, "This is just the first page of the book. We will fight vigorously to defend this properly enacted statute, which protects our children from irrevocable adult decisions. I am confident that this law will be upheld."
 
 The restraining order could be renewed in two weeks. 
 
Schneck tells 21 News the judge who made this decision last ran as a Republican in 2022, so any arguments on line that this is a liberal-leaning judge in the Columbus area is wrong.