COLUMBUS, Ohio (WCMH) — The ACLU of Ohio announced on Monday it is filing a lawsuit to halt an Ohio law banning gender-affirming care for transgender minors before it takes effect.

The impending lawsuit will challenge a provision in House Bill 68 that prohibits Ohio’s children’s hospitals from providing treatment like gender-reassignment surgery and hormone therapy to trans minors. The legislation, which also bans trans athletes’ participation in women’s sports, will take effect on April 23.

“We are preparing litigation to defend transgender youth and their constitutional right to receive medically necessary healthcare,” said Freda Levenson, Legal Director at the ACLU of Ohio. “Families should be able to make these private, personal decisions based on the advice of their physicians, and free from interference by politicians. H.B. 68 is not only cruel; it violates the Ohio Constitution and must be challenged.”

The organization’s announcement comes after the Statehouse voted to override Gov. Mike DeWine’s veto of the legislation. DeWine decided to reject the bill after visiting several children’s hospitals, arguing “parents should make these decisions and not the government.”

However, Rep. Gary Click (R-Vickery), the primary sponsor of H.B. 68, called gender-affirming care an “experiment” and has long argued “children are incapable of providing the informed consent necessary to make those very risky and life-changing decisions.”

Click said H.B. 68 was written to withstand legal challenges, and noted the suit will by heard by the Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals, which previously held up gender-affirming care bans enacted in Kentucky and Tennessee.

“We crafted [the bill] so that it was constitutional. We did this in consultation, we had some advice from different attorneys and so-forth along the way,” said Click. “We calculated this from the very beginning, we know that’s what they do, so we’re ready for this.”

Hormone therapy to treat gender dysphoria in youth is backed by every major medical association in the nation, including the American Medical Association and the American Academy of Pediatrics. To deny this care “lacks any basis in medical science and would have disastrous consequences for the health and well-being of Ohio youth,” the ACLU said.

“Gender affirming healthcare is safe, effective, and necessary,” said Chase Strangio, Deputy Director for Transgender Justice at the ACLU. “We are prepared to go to court and defend the rights and dignity of transgender youth with every tool available.”

The organization said additional details about the impending lawsuit will be available soon.