Whatever your opinion of Ohio Governor Mike DeWine, it’s difficult to ignore that he is a good person, which is unusual in politics.
When he defied his party on Friday and vetoed a bill that would have prohibited gender-affirming care for adolescents and limited the number of students who could participate in athletics, the man demonstrated his morality.
Howls about how a Republican has betrayed his center will come from his right side. However, DeWine asserted at a press conference that parents may decide on their children’s health care, not the government.
Read the entire speech from Mike DeWine: “This is about protecting human life.” DeWine opposes the health care bill for trans athletes.
That government should butt out of its citizens’ lives is an antiquated Republican viewpoint.
However, in a divided culture war era, politicians seek out any issue they believe will give them an advantage over their constituents who support red meat.
DeWine observed the effects of House Bill 68 on communities in Ohio.
However, just like Black individuals, immigrants, and other disenfranchised groups have been throughout our history, the LGBTQ+ group is currently in the sights.
DeWine has done what other governors haven’t had the nerve to do, which takes courage for a governor to say much.
He paid no attention to politicians who couldn’t care less about the harm their callous legislation would cause to families. DeWine, on the other hand, visited three facilities to learn from those who would be affected by the law.
He told the Associated Press, “We’re dealing with families and children who are going through a tough time.” I want to get it straight as best I can.
His polarized, improperly skewed GOP supermajority must then decide whether or not to override his veto because he did.
They only consider the political value of pushing through a bill that only pertains to the minority when making decisions.
There are 10 times as many people, I’d surmise, from all ideologies who see this as just another culture wars work meant to divide, for every person who cheers on the Great Walnut school board—they’re the ones who just banned the LGBTQ+ flag from district classrooms.
When you separate families from their kids and obstruct their medical care, that is especially sneaky. Additionally, this is a medical matter.
Medical treatment is gender-affirming treatment.
Gender-affirming treatment is referred to as “a critical form of healthcare” by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. It consists of various services for transgender and nonbinary people, including those related to medicine, surgery, mental health, and other non-medical services.
The department added that “Research shows that gender-affirming care improves the emotional health and well-being of children and adolescents who are gender diverse.”
Additionally, the hormone treatment that the bill sought to outlaw has yet another significant application. Precocious puberty, in which girls as young as eight or nine years old develop breasts, is treated with hormone therapy. According to studies, developing too rapidly can result in mental health problems.
DeWine listened carefully and without elections in a way that his GOP associates did not.
Republicans can then pay attention to one of their own.
State Reps. D. J. Swearingen (R-Huron) praised his Parents Bill of Rights in a press release, saying, “This significant legislation acknowledges the fundamental role that parents play in the lives of their children.” The unique position that only parents can have in their children’s lives must be supported and protected by us.
How difficult is that, you ask? “Guard the unassailable role that only parents can play in the life of their children.”
That’s exactly what DeWine did.
Governor, you did a great job.
