Ohio lawmakers overturned their Republican governor's veto of a bill that bans sex-change surgeries and the prescription of puberty blockers and cross-sex hormones for minors, allowing the legislation to become law. The Ohio Senate voted 24-8 on Wednesday to override the veto of House Bill 68. The bill also prohibits biological males who identify as female from taking part in girls' sports, affirming an earlier veto override from the Ohio House. The 75% vote to overturn the veto surpassed the 60% required by state law.The Center for Christian Virtue, an Ohio-based conservative activist group, welcomed the news."No child is born in the wrong body, no matter what powerful and well-funded lobbyists say. Today, Ohio has told an exploitative medical industry that we reject your junk science and will no longer allow you to experiment on our children," CCV President Aaron Baer said in a statement. "We've also guaranteed that every young woman in this state will have a free and fair playing field and will not be forced to compete against boys. This marks a turning point in Ohio: we will not remain silent when our children are being harmed."In December, Ohio governor Mike DeWine vetoed HB 68 and said the proposed legislation would prevent parents from making medical decisions for their trans-identified children."Many parents have told me that their child would be dead today if they had not received the treatment they received from an Ohio children's hospital," the Republican said at the time."Were I to sign Substitute House Bill 68 or were Substitute House Bill 68 to become law, Ohio would be saying that the State, that the government, knows what is best medically for a child rather than the two people who love that child the most, the parents."DeWine signed an executive order to ban sex-change surgeries for minors but allowed the prescribing of puberty blockers and cross-sex hormones. This move prompted conservatives to complain that DeWine's efforts did not go far enough, while liberals said such restrictions would harm trans-identified people.The American Civil Liberties Union and the ACLU of Ohio issued a joint statement to say that DeWine's order "could threaten the lives and well-being of transgender youth and adults across the state and needlessly insert politicians and bureaucracy between them and their doctors.""In the interest of protecting transgender people's lives and their fundamental right to self-determination, these radical and life-threatening proposals must not be allowed to move forward," the groups stated."Ohio voters just made clear at the ballot box that government officials should not be involved in private healthcare decisions; these matters should be left to families and doctors, not politicians."The American Principles Project, a socially conservative advocacy group issued a statement in support of the veto override."Most Americans agree that it is wrong to push children into permanent, bodily destructive procedures to 'treat' their mental distress. And they agree it is wrong to force women and girl athletes to compete against biological males in sports," said APP President Terry Schilling."We join with Ohio families today to express gratitude to the state legislature for righting the governor's wrong. And we look forward to making progress on these issues in even more states in the weeks ahead."Richard Michael DeWine, born in Springfield, Ohio, became the state’s 70th governor in 2019. The 77-year-old previously served as the 50th Attorney General of Ohio from 2011 to 2019, and in both houses of Congress: in the U.S. House of Representatives from 1983 to 1991 and in the U.S. Senate from 1995 to 2007.
Ohio lawmakers overturned their Republican governor's veto of a bill that bans sex-change surgeries and the prescription of puberty blockers and cross-sex hormones for minors, allowing the legislation to become law. The Ohio Senate voted 24-8 on Wednesday to override the veto of House Bill 68. The bill also prohibits biological males who identify as female from taking part in girls' sports, affirming an earlier veto override from the Ohio House. The 75% vote to overturn the veto surpassed the 60% required by state law.The Center for Christian Virtue, an Ohio-based conservative activist group, welcomed the news."No child is born in the wrong body, no matter what powerful and well-funded lobbyists say. Today, Ohio has told an exploitative medical industry that we reject your junk science and will no longer allow you to experiment on our children," CCV President Aaron Baer said in a statement. "We've also guaranteed that every young woman in this state will have a free and fair playing field and will not be forced to compete against boys. This marks a turning point in Ohio: we will not remain silent when our children are being harmed."In December, Ohio governor Mike DeWine vetoed HB 68 and said the proposed legislation would prevent parents from making medical decisions for their trans-identified children."Many parents have told me that their child would be dead today if they had not received the treatment they received from an Ohio children's hospital," the Republican said at the time."Were I to sign Substitute House Bill 68 or were Substitute House Bill 68 to become law, Ohio would be saying that the State, that the government, knows what is best medically for a child rather than the two people who love that child the most, the parents."DeWine signed an executive order to ban sex-change surgeries for minors but allowed the prescribing of puberty blockers and cross-sex hormones. This move prompted conservatives to complain that DeWine's efforts did not go far enough, while liberals said such restrictions would harm trans-identified people.The American Civil Liberties Union and the ACLU of Ohio issued a joint statement to say that DeWine's order "could threaten the lives and well-being of transgender youth and adults across the state and needlessly insert politicians and bureaucracy between them and their doctors.""In the interest of protecting transgender people's lives and their fundamental right to self-determination, these radical and life-threatening proposals must not be allowed to move forward," the groups stated."Ohio voters just made clear at the ballot box that government officials should not be involved in private healthcare decisions; these matters should be left to families and doctors, not politicians."The American Principles Project, a socially conservative advocacy group issued a statement in support of the veto override."Most Americans agree that it is wrong to push children into permanent, bodily destructive procedures to 'treat' their mental distress. And they agree it is wrong to force women and girl athletes to compete against biological males in sports," said APP President Terry Schilling."We join with Ohio families today to express gratitude to the state legislature for righting the governor's wrong. And we look forward to making progress on these issues in even more states in the weeks ahead."Richard Michael DeWine, born in Springfield, Ohio, became the state’s 70th governor in 2019. The 77-year-old previously served as the 50th Attorney General of Ohio from 2011 to 2019, and in both houses of Congress: in the U.S. House of Representatives from 1983 to 1991 and in the U.S. Senate from 1995 to 2007.
