Gender transitions for minors and single-sex sports issues are up in the air in Ohio as the clock ticks for the state’s Republican governor, Mike DeWine, to decide on a measure that overwhelmingly passed in the state legislature.
House Bill 68 would block doctors from performing “gender reassignment surgery” or prescribing puberty blockers to minors by enacting the “Saving Ohio Adolescents from Experimentation Act.” It would also require schools and colleges to designate single-sex sports by enacting the “Save Women’s Sports Act.”
The governor has until December 29 to veto or sign it, and the bill automatically goes into effect without action from him. Mr. DeWine is “still reviewing the bill,” his press secretary, Dan Tierney, tells the Sun. His signature would lead to Ohio joining more than 20 states across the country that have passed similar legislation.
Advocates for the bill say it will protect children from making life-altering decisions to undergo dangerous surgeries and drugs. Opponents argue it harms transgender youth and allows politicians to make decisions about healthcare instead of parents.
The dispute regarding Ohio’s bill comes as a wave of transgender-related issues sweeps the country, from a Connecticut lawsuit about women’s sports making its way to the Supreme Court to a California ballot petition to undo significant transgender legislation in the state.
“We’ve seen across the country 20-plus states have enacted laws like these, including several that were enacted overriding the governor’s veto,” a senior counsel for Alliance Defending Freedom who testified in support of HB 68, Matt Sharp, tells the Sun. “And it’s because legislatures, they’re listening to stories from detransitioners, individuals that have been harmed by these drugs and surgeries that are sharing their stories.”
Ohio’s legislation, should it be enacted, would “help protect Ohio’s children from these dangerous gender transitioning drugs and surgeries that a growing body of evidence is showing do real harm to children’s minds and bodies,” Mr. Sharp said.
“This is a very, very contentious issue,” the governor told a Cleveland NBC affiliate, WKYC. “Other states have dealt with this issue as well, but ultimately, my decision will be based on one thing — and that is what I think is in the best interest of the children that will be impacted by this law.”
Mr. DeWine expressed opposition in 2021 to prohibiting transgender athletes from competing in female sports when he said that the “issue is best addressed outside the government.”
“For me, getting it right means for me to find out as much as I can about exactly what is going on and frankly hear from parents,” Mr. DeWine told WBNS Columbus on Wednesday. “It’s a process that is going on, it’s a process that is not done, and I will be making an announcement obviously before the ten day runs.”
Ohio is home to a “gender-affirming healthcare” sanctuary city after Cincinnati’s City Council unanimously declared itself a “safe haven” this summer ahead of the state legislature’s transgender-related bills. Several other cities, including Pittsburgh, Philadelphia, and Kansas City, have also declared themselves safe havens for transgender care and services this year.
Cincinnati’s resolution, noting that “members of the Ohio state legislature” were introducing “bills that seek to restrict access to gender-affirming healthcare,” said it was committed to “furthering transgender equity and supporting its growing transgender community.”
The resolution seemingly contradicts the state’s legislation, raising questions about whether Mr. DeWine’s signature would lead to an override of the “safe haven” or a political clash could ensue. Cincinnati’s leaders said they support healthcare professionals who perform “gender-affirming care” to minors and policies that advocate against imposing penalties on doctors for doing so.
Ohio’s attorney general would have the ability to enforce the state law should Mr. DeWine sign it, Mr. Sharp told the Sun.
“The attorney general clearly has authority to come in and make sure that this law is being followed, that’s clear in the statute, that’s clear in the attorney general’s authority,” he said. “So I think that would very much be clear, that the state does have the authority to come in and make sure that doctors, whether they’re in Cincinnati or in any other part of the state, are not harming Ohio children.”
