Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine yesterday vetoed House Bill 68, a measure that would have banned gender-affirming care for minors. The vetoed measure would also have banned transgender athletes’ participation in girls’ and women’s sports.
DeWine announced his decision at a news conference Friday morning. He said he had listened to people on both sides of the legislation, and that his decision reflected the fact that the law would have proscribed healthcare that so many patients, families and doctors told him is saving lives.
“Ultimately, these tough, tough decisions should not be made by the government,” said DeWine. “They should not be made by the state of Ohio. They should be made by the people who love these kids the most, and that’s the parents. The parents who have raised that child, the parents who have seen that child go through agony, the parents who worry about that child every single day of their life.”
Supporters of gender-affirming care bans, both in Ohio and nationally, were quick to condemn DeWine’s decision.
Republican Bernie Moreno, a Trump-endorsed candidate for U.S. Senate, and Center for Christian Virtue President Aaron Baer both called on Ohio legislators to override his veto.
“Mike DeWine has failed Ohio, and it’s our children who are going to pay the price,” Baer said in a statement.
Terry Schilling, president of the conservative American Principles Project, said in a statement that DeWine had succumbed to “egregious lies” being perpetuated about transgender care. He said history would remember that DeWine “gave into cowardice and
According to wire reports, rightwing critics called DeWine a coward, said his veto was a betrayal, and accused him of “[caving] to the transgender industry that is preying on so many vulnerable individuals.”.
Republican Senate President Matt Huffman and GOP Ohio House Speaker Jason Stephens both expressed disappointment, defending lawmakers’ extensive work on the legislation. Stephens said his chamber is weighing its options with regard to beginning the veto override process.
House Democrats said the legislation was based on hate and DeWine’s veto supported “fundamental freedom” and parental rights. Senate Democratic Leader Nickie Antonio, the first openly gay person to serve in the Ohio General Assembly, said her party would continue its fight “until all may enjoy the freedom to live their authentic lives without government interference.”
The vetoed bill would have prohibited Ohio minors from receiving gender reassignment surgery, but also from taking puberty blockers or undergoing other hormone therapies. It would have allowed those already undergoing treatments to continue, however.
DeWine said a small number of Ohio children would have been affected by the bill, “but for those children who face gender dysphoria, and for their families, the consequences of this bill could not be more profound.” He said he could think of no example where state law overrules the medical decisions of not only parents, but also the medical judgment of a child’s treating physician and medical team.
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