Ohio Governor Vetoes Transgender Athlete Bill

Ohio's Republican governor has vetoed a proposed state bill that would have banned transgender minors from receiving certain healthcare and prohibit transgender girls from participating in female athletics.

Governor Mike DeWine on Friday rejected two house bills, the so-called “Save Adolescents from Experimentation” and the “Save Women’s Sports” acts, after the Statehouse passed the legislation on Dec. 13, WCMH-TV reported. 

“Were I to sign House Bill 68, or were House Bill 68 to become law, Ohio would be saying that the state, that the government knows better what is medically best for a child than the two people who love that child the most, their parents,” DeWine said.

Even with DeWine's veto, the bill could still go into effect if given a three-fifths vote in Ohio’s House of Representatives and Senate.

House Bill 68 would bar medical professionals from providing treatment known as gender-affirming care, like puberty blockers and hormone replacement therapy, to trans children in the state. DeWine said he made his decision after visiting five children’s hospitals and speaking with families whose children undergo that treatment.

“They told me their child is alive only because they received care,” DeWine said, as reported by WCMH-TV. “These are gut-wrenching decisions that should be made by parents and should be informed by teams of doctors who are advising them. These are parents who have watched their children suffer for years.”

DeWine also said on Friday that he will draft administrative rules to ban gender-affirming surgery on minors. He said he is also instructing his administration to collect data on trans healthcare and to combat clinics that don’t provide adequate mental health counseling.

Nick Lashutka, Ohio Children’s Hospital Association president, testified the state’s children’s hospitals “do not perform any surgeries on minors for the condition of gender dysphoria.” Still, the bill bans physicians from performing reconstructive surgery on a minor. H.B. 68 also includes a grandfather clause that permits a physician “under specified circumstances” to continue prescribing puberty-blocking drugs to a minor after the bill’s effective date.

People in favor of H.B. 68 have argued Ohioans under age 18 are incapable of providing the informed consent necessary to make the decisions to receive this care, including the Republican Speaker of the Ohio House Jason Stephens who said he is disappointed the governor rejected the legislation, WCMH-TV reported.

“The bill sponsors, and The House, have dedicated nearly three years to get the bill right — to empower parents and protect children,” said Stephens in a statement. “It was passed by veto-proof majorities in each chamber. We will certainly discuss as a caucus and take the appropriate next steps.”

Rep. Adam Bird (R-New Richmond) said he believes DeWine’s decision was not “adequately thought through,” and that the governor is not “thinking about the protection of our young people.”

“He’s the executive branch, but that doesn’t mean you’re the king or the emperor,” Bird said, as reported by the news station. “Despite the governor’s poor decision today, I believe that we will override him in the month of January.”

Ohio House Minority Leader Allison Russo (D-Upper Arlington) called the measure “discriminatory” and said the veto is “a much needed sign of support for Ohio’s LGBTQ+ children and the community overall.”

WCMH-TV reported that Lashutka said Ohio’s children’s hospitals have served about 3,300 individuals throughout the past 10 years whose first appointment at a gender clinic took place when they were under the age of 18.

The average age at their first appointment was 16 years old. Of those 3,300 individuals, only 7 percent were prescribed a puberty blocker and only 35 percent were prescribed hormones.

There are 19 trans girls — 10 in middle school and nine in high school — who have participated in girls’ sports since the policy was implemented eight years ago, including the six trans high school students taking part during the 2022-23 school year, WCMH-TV reported.