Ohio Governor Vetoes Trans Surgery Ban for Children

Transgender activists are jumping for joy, as the Republican Governor of Ohio, Mike DeWine, has vetoed a bill, HB 68, that would have banned the barbaric practice of performing so-called sex change operations on children in the state. DeWine announced the veto in a press conference on Friday — the last day he could have vetoed the bill.

The bill would have also barred so-called hormone therapy and prohibited boys claiming to be girls from competing in state-sanctioned athletics.

DeWine apparently fell for the con that such surgery was “life saving” in his betrayal of the Ohio House of Representatives and state Senate, which passed the bill earlier this year. He mentioned speaking to both sides of the argument, including parents who claimed that their children would be dead if not for the controversial therapies.

“They told me their child is alive only because they received care,” DeWine said. “Ultimately, I believe this is about protecting human life.”

In order to override DeWine’s veto, a three-fifths vote of the state Legislature — 60 representatives and 20 senators — would be needed. Originally, the amended bill passed with 62 representatives and 24 senators voting for it. But the state’s GOP may not be united enough to stand against the governor.

Parents and doctors should decide what’s best for a child, according to DeWine. Even if “what’s best” for the kids is to be sterilized before they turn 18.

“Were I to sign House Bill 68 … Ohio would be saying that the government knows better what is medically best for the child than the two people who love that child the most, the parents,” DeWine said. “Now, while there are rare times in the law in other circumstances, where the state overrules the medical decisions made by their parents, I can think of no example, where this is done not only against the decision of the parents but also against the medical judgment of the treating physician and against the judgment of the treating team of medical experts. Therefore, I cannot sign this bill as it is currently written.”

Instead of signing a bill that would address these concerns, DeWine promised to address them through bureaucracy. “I truly believe that we can address a number of goals in House Bill 68 by administrative rules that will have likely a better chance of surviving judicial review and being adopted,” he said.

LGBT activists, of course, were overjoyed by DeWine’s capitulation.

“This is a huge win for trans youth and their families in Ohio,” posted LGBT extremist group Human Rights Campaign on X.

The Daily Signal reported that pro-family advocates, on the other hand, were incensed:

“Gov. DeWine’s capitulation to radical gender ideology is outrageous and unacceptable,” Kevin Roberts, the president of Heritage Action for America, told The Daily Signal. “We all have a duty to protect children and female athletes from irreversible physical and psychological damage. HB 68 is commonsense legislation with broad, bipartisan support—state lawmakers should override the governor’s veto immediately.”

“Kids are not social or science experiments—and boys do not belong in girls’ sports,” Roberts added. “HB 68 protects children from irreversible damage by banning the use of experimental surgeries and cross-sex hormones on vulnerable kids and ensures fairness for female athletes by banning males from spaces and fields created specifically for women and girls. These measures are not controversial.”

Others echoed Roberts’ concerns:

“So-called ‘gender affirming care’ turns these children into lifetime medical patients,” Ian Kingsbury, director of research at the medical group Do No Harm, told The Daily Signal. “It puts them at risk of infertility, loss of sexual function, obesity, and certain cancers. For medical transition among children to even be considered a form of health care it would need to be clear that there are benefits that outweigh the enormous risks. No such evidence exists.”

Female collegiate swimmer Riley Gaines, who was forced to compete against biological male Lia Thomas, called DeWine a “spineless coward.”

Gaines is completely correct. DeWine was taken in by extremist LGBT advocates — whether parents or physicians — who claim that this butchery of children is, somehow, life saving. He doesn’t have the spine necessary to hold a conviction much less run a state.