GOP governor in Ohio, Mike DeWine, vetoed a bill on Friday after it passed the state government by a wide margin. The bill would have limited gender-changing services for minors and prohibited trans athletes from competing in girls’ and women’s sports.
“The effects of this act could not be more severe,” DeWine, 76, declared in a press event after making his choice public. “This act is written in such a way that I am unable to sign it.”
“Ohio would be claiming that the state, the government, knows better what is medically ideal for a child than the two people who love that child the most: the parents, if I were to sign House Bill 68,” he continued.
The governor continued by stating that he was particularly opposed to gender-reassignment surgery for minors and that his administration had put forth rules in the upcoming weeks to regulate gender clinic operations and improve child protections.
Governor of Ohio, Mike DeWine, vetoed a bill on Friday that would have prohibited transgender athletes from participating in girls’ and children’s sports and prevented gender-transition services for adolescents.
Some Republican senators from Ohio, including US Sen. J.D. Vance, had expressed “hope” that DeWine might sign the legislation.
DeWine stated, “While I have come to a different decision regarding whether to sign this act, I do share some of these concerns and agree that action is required in response to several issues that they have brought up.”
The majority of Republican-controlled state legislators in both legislative chambers were subsequently invited to join him in the endeavor.
Following two weeks of discussion, the state Senate voted 24 to 8 on December 13 to take the policy to DeWine’s desk. The Saving Adolescents from Experimentation (SAFE) Act was approved by the Ohio House of Representatives 64–28 on June 21.
When transgender swimmer Lia Thomas won the NCAA’s Division I 500-yard freestyle title in March 2022, public pressure reached a boiling point.
Several Ohio Republicans, including US Sen. J.D. Vance, expressed “hope” that DeWine would sign the legislation.
“Governor DeWine, in my opinion, is a good person,” Vance posted on Twitter Thursday, “I hope he does the right thing and signs this important legislation.”
According to a Reuters report from last year, there were no pediatric gender clinics in the US fifteen years ago. There are now more than 100, making the issue’s management by politicians a major concern for voters across the country.
Since 2021, more than 20 states have passed legislation that either limits or outright forbids gender-transition solutions for minors, including Florida, where Gov. Ron DeSantis has outlawed the act.
Lia Thomas, who transitioned gender after competing on the University of Pennsylvania’s swim team for three years as a man, won the NCAA Division I 500-yard freestyle title in March 2022, putting the public under pressure to address the issue.
Since 2021, more than 20 states have passed legislation that either limits or outright forbids gender-transition solutions for minors, including Florida, where Gov. Ron DeSantis also signed a law prohibiting trans athletes from participating in children’s sports.
The Sunshine State governor has cited the legislation as evidence of his track record of enacting conservative goals during the Republican presidential primary in 2024.
The trans issue has even caused other candidates—including former New Jersey governor Chris Christie—to split the GOP primary field. Christie echoed DeWine’s concerns that parents should have the ultimate say rather than government representatives.
Smith stated during the Republican presidential primary debate on December 6 that Republicans believe in less government, not more, and less government involvement in people’s lives. “I believe in families.”
“You don’t know what rights are going to be taken away next the moment you start taking those rights away from parents,” he continued.
