The Ohio Senate, which is under Democrat control, voted on Wednesday to override Gov. Mike DeWine’s veto of a bill prohibiting trans athletes from participating in women’s sports and outlawing gender-changing services for juveniles.
The Ohio House had earlier this month voted in favor of overturning the Republican governor’s veto, and the override passed with a 23–9 vote.
House Bill 68 in Ohio forbids physicians from performing sex reassignment surgeries on patients under the age of 18 and from prescribing hormones and puberty blockers for adolescents.
Additionally, transgender women are not permitted to participate in high school or college sports teams according to their gender identity.
DeWine vetoed the complete bill in December after it narrowly passed the state legislature, choosing rather to issue an executive order that merely forbids gender-reassignment surgery on minors.
“After HB 68 narrowly passed the Ohio legislature last month, DeWine vetoed it,” reported A.P.
Before Wednesday’s vote, DeWine, 76, said, “I think parents really make those decisions and not the state,” according to the Ohio Capital Journal.
When he vetoed the measure earlier, he stated, “the effects of this act could not be more profound.”
DeWine stated, “Ultimately, I think this is about preserving human life.” “Many parents have told me that if their child hadn’t received the care they received from a children’s hospital in Ohio, they would not have survived and would be dead today.” Those who are now adults have also told me that if it weren’t for this care, they would have committed suicide when they were adolescents.
“DeWine’s veto was overturned by the Ohio House earlier this month,” reported A.P.
One of the bill’s co-sponsors, Democratic state senator Kristina Roegner, argued that “gender-affirming treatment” has turned into a “profit center” for hospitals looking to convert minors into “permanent patients.”
On the Senate floor, Roegner remarked, “There are men, women, boys, girls, and they are all different.” Gender is never a fluid concept. No such thing as a sex spectrum exists.
She continued, “This is a sizable profit center for those institutions promoting these methods to youth and kids.” They are unable to make decisions that could change their lives.
“In the future, HB 68 is expected to go into effect,” reported AP.
The Senate’s veto override, according to Democratic state senator Bill DeMora, does “destroy” the lives of transgender youth.
The Senate “decided to target trans youth by overriding HB 68,” he said in a tweet, “rather than passing one of dozens of bipartisan, no-nonsense bills that really help Ohioans.” Now, lives are lost. After passing a bad act, the Senate was given the once-in-a-lifetime chance to reflect, but it was wasted.
A further section in HB 68 may permit doctors to continue treating trans people.
In the future, the rules will go into effect.
