Gov. DeWine, my son was on the verge of suicide. Use your power to save trans children

Rick Colby is the father of Ashton Colby and a lifelong Republican who lives in Columbus.

My son's friend called in February of 2012 to tell me I needed to drive to Dayton right away and pick up my child.

Ashton was in college and experiencing intense suicidal thoughts.

I did what any loving parent would do and drove there immediately. We went straight to the ER at Ohio State University. It was there that Ashton told a therapist why he was suicidal – he simply didn’t see a path forward as a woman.

Ashton started six months of therapy and during that time he told me he was transgender.

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Like many parents, I had little understanding of what that meant and no idea what the next steps were. But, as his dad, I wanted him to know that he wouldn't be alone on this journey.

I told him: I love you, you have my full support, we’ll get the best care and do it the right way.

The Ohio Legislature just passed a bill that restricts access to gender-affirming care for anyone under the age of 18. As a conservative, anti-woke, Christian Republican father, I urge Gov. Mike DeWine to veto this sweeping bill that overturns parents’ rights and hurts transgender kids.

Lawmakers can learn a lesson from my son

With Ashton as my guide, we figured out together what moving forward looked like.

Within six months of care, the difference in my son was shocking. Ashton became joyful again and all the depression and anxiety that had existed for years lifted.

I saw my son slowly become the person he was always meant to be: a man.

Today, Ashton runs his own business and is a productive, kind and generous member of society. My son has been reborn and transformed since becoming the gender he was always meant to be, and I couldn’t be more proud and happier for him.

Never in my wildest dreams did I foresee back in 2012 that my son and other transgender young people would one day become a target of the Republican Party.

Mike DeWine can stop unjust attack on Ohio children

Republicans in the Ohio Legislature have made it their mission to ban and criminalize gender-affirming care for young people based on false narratives that destroy parents’ rights in a massive government overreach.

Let me address these false narratives: Neither doctors nor parents are pushing children to become transgender.

Ohio medical officials testified that their process of providing gender-affirming care is designed to confirm that this care is what is best for the individual.

As a marker of their effective process, they shared that zero people who received their care have ever detransitioned.

Further, gender reassignment surgery is not being performed on children in Ohio.

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Medical care for those under eighteen centers on counseling, puberty blockers or hormones, done in consultation with doctors, and this care is the standard of care for medical professionals in Ohio and across the country.

House Bill 68 is in direct conflict with mainstream and conservative values.

Replacing the expertise of doctors with the political whims of state legislators is not limited government. Having the state override the rights of parents to make medical decisions for their child is not a free society – it’s authoritarian.

Limiting the medical care that keeps our children alive weakens families and our state.

The public agrees: 76% of likely voters believe that decisions regarding access to care for transgender youth should rest solely with parents and their medical practitioners.

Ohio has a world class network of children's hospitals and experts who can help parents and children navigate their unique medical needs. We are the envy of many other states.

Transgender children and teens who receive the gender-affirming medical care they need are 73% less likely to attempt suicide and sixty percent less likely to experience depression and report feelings of hopelessness about their future.

Mike DeWine should know how dangerous House Bill 68 is to Ohio families

Signing this bill into law will put the lives of these kids at risk by preventing parents from providing their child with the best care. I am grateful I could obtain this care for Ashton and cannot imagine what would have happened to him without it.

Incredibly, House Bill 68 allows parents of transgender children currently getting care to get “grandfathered” in and continue to receive medical care, while making it a criminal offense for other parents who seek the same care after the bill becomes law.

Anti-trans bill must be stopped. Ohio may chase my family away just like Missouri did.

This creates a two-tiered system of care that defies common sense. Either gender-affirming care is harmful or it’s not. The legislature’s vote to ban gender-affirming care for any new patients is unconscionable.

Mike DeWine should know how dangerous House Bill 68 is to Ohio businesses

In addition to families, Ohio businesses would be hurt by this bill. House Bill 68 makes it more difficult for employers to recruit the talent they need and makes Ohio a less desirable place to do business. Most Ohio companies have internal policies that support transgender employees.

Companies like Intel, which is building a $20 billion manufacturing plant in Ohio with 10,000 high-paying jobs, provides support to their transgender employees and parents with transgender children. These employees could soon be unwelcome in Ohio.

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These gentle souls need counseling and care. The Ohio Legislature does not know best – parents do. Parents must be allowed to make decisions on medical care with our child, their physician, counselors, our spirituality, and our God. I fear for parents who will have to leave the state to get access to the same medical care my son received.

Parents’ rights are like free speech – you can’t just be for them when you agree with what’s being said. Gov. Mike DeWine, please stand up for Ohio children and families and veto House Bill 68.

Rick Colby is the father of Ashton Colby and a lifelong Republican who lives in Columbus.

This article originally appeared on The Columbus Dispatch: Mike DeWine must save Ohio kids from suicide by stopping anti-trans bill