ACLU of Ohio Statement on Cleveland Clinic’s Anti-Trans Settlement with Department of Justice

The ACLU of Ohio is deeply saddened by the Cleveland Clinic’s $2 million settlement with the Department of Justice (DOJ), the result being that the Clinic will withhold, for at least the next 20 years, science-based, gender-affirming care to children and families in need.

In response to the DOJ’s illegitimate, strong-arm tactics, threatening to cut off essential federal funding, including Medicaid and Medicare, from institutions that refuse to comply with Donald Trump’s hateful agenda, Ohioans and all Americans are now witnessing – in real time – once world-class institutions, like the Cleveland Clinic, bending the knee under terrible duress, and suddenly setting aside longstanding medical research, ethics and patient care, and risking forever their institutional reputation and credibility. These are sad, troubling, deeply frightening times.

Many are ashamed of, angry at, and embarrassed for, the Cleveland Clinic right now, especially as this terrible settlement clouds PRIDE Month. Yet, it’s critical that we all remember: this reputational damage is being foisted upon Ohio’s world-renown health care institution by a callous, cruel, and corrupt Administration that consistently abuses its authority to enforce its narrow political and religious agendas, over and against science, reason, sound policy and judgment, and the public good.

Until the real general welfare and true best interests of “We, the People” are centered and served by our government and our tax dollars, the ACLU of Ohio will keep fighting. The Constitution demands the same from us all.