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Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine vetoed a bill that would have prohibited gender-affirming care for minors, defying fellow Republican governors and preserving such care for residents outside his state as well, because families of transgender youths living in states with bans have been traveling to Ohio for treatment.
Republicans hold a supermajority in the legislature and are poised to overturn DeWine’s veto.
“This bill would have a very small impact on the children of Ohio.” However, the implications of this measure could not be more severe for youngsters who are experiencing gender dysphoria. “Ultimately, I believe this is about protecting human life,” DeWine said at a press conference announcing the decision on Friday. “Many parents have told me that their child would not have survived, would be dead today, if they had not received the treatment they received from one of Ohio’s children’s hospitals.”
“These are gut-wrenching decisions that should be made by parents and should be informed by teams of doctors who are advising them,” he said. “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: The parents.”
Hundreds of anti-transmission laws have been introduced in dozens of state legislatures around the country. Almost half of the states in the US have approved anti-transgender legislation, including states bordering Ohio. Many of these legislation prohibit children from receiving gender-affirming care and limit trans females’ involvement in school athletics; DeWine stated that he did not examine that section in Ohio’s bill.
The Saving Adolescents From Experimentation Act, or SAFE Act, proposed in Ohio would have barred hormone treatment, puberty blockers, and gender reassignment surgery for minors under the age of 18. The Save Women’s Sports Act would also have barred transgender girls from participating in sports teams intended for girls and women in high school and college. The measure’s proponent, state Rep. Gary Click (R), has stated that it is not about “culture wars,” but rather “medical ethics.”
Click’s office informed The Washington Post that if the bill was vetoed, he would ask the legislature to overturn it.
While vetoing the measure, DeWine said he is directing his administration to start working on administrative regulations “to establish important protections for Ohio children and Ohio adults” on the topic. He hopes that this will avert a veto override.
After heated arguments, Ohio legislators handed the measure to DeWine this month. Proponents said that the bill was focused on children’s well-being; opponents argued that the bill was not backed by research and, as a result, may cause more harm than good.
Hundreds of individuals testified at legislative hearings this year, with 87 testifying during a state Senate committee meeting in early December that went into 11 p.m. The bulk of them spoke against the law, while several supporters of the ban traveled in from out of state.
The law was approved by the Ohio Senate by a vote of 24-8 and the House by a vote of 61-27, primarily along party lines in the Republican-controlled chambers, joining more than 20 states that have imposed similar limitations in the last two years.
In May, Ohio citizen Rick Colby defied party lines to speak against the measure as a Republican. Colby’s adult son is transgender and has gotten gender-affirming care in the state, he told The Post this week, calling the law a “horror” and implying a gap in Ohioans’ abilities to care for trans children.
While minors who are currently getting gender-affirming care would have been permitted to continue, other parents would have been considered criminals if they sought care for their child after the measure went into force. “It’s insane,” Colby remarked, recommending that the governor should form a panel to investigate the matter. “This is not a party issue here. This is a problem that goes beyond politics. Bring all of the necessary individuals together, including parents and bill backers. Then there will be public gatherings.”
DeWine said he wants to ban procedures for gender-affirming therapy for kids and impose limits to avoid “pop-up clinics” or “fly-by-night operations” that give bad care. He stated that the necessary agencies will commence data collection.
DeWine had refused to comment on the bill until it reached his desk. The governor spoke with numerous sides, including families with transgender children, over nearly two weeks.
Kelli Marie, an Ohio resident who has a transgender daughter, visited with DeWine this week, according to her.
“On Christmas Eve, Governor DeWine called and asked if we could meet with him. He welcomed our family to his Cedarville house. “He was interested in meeting Allison and hearing about our journey,” Marie said on Facebook. “Allison told her story from the heart, as she always does.” Not afraid to disclose the most difficult experiences. Mike and I talked about our worries, our lack of understanding, and the process of realizing that this was Allison’s truth.”
“We expressed our gratitude to him for his leadership during the pandemic.” Because they relied on medicine and science to save lives. And now we’re asking him to do it again,” Marie explained.
Across the country, states are fighting over similar legislation.
Nick Zingarelli relocated his family from Missouri to Ohio in part due to Missouri’s anti-gender-affirming care regulations. Zingarelli’s 14-year-old transgender daughter is now getting care in Ohio.
Zingarelli thinks that the Republican governor’s veto would sway some of his party’s lawmakers, limiting the bill’s supporters’ ability to overturn DeWine.
“We are grateful for the grandfather clause, which safeguards [my daughter’s] right to care.” But what about the other youngsters who are at various phases of their journey?” He stated.
“What about the child who has been diagnosed with gender dysphoria but is not yet at the stage where medical intervention is necessary?” That option would have been gone for them. What about the youngsters who have come here for medical treatment since they don’t have access to it where they live?”
Despite a Travis County District Court judge’s order, a Texas statute forbidding young people from medically switching genders went into force this summer, prohibiting health practitioners from giving treatments such as puberty blockers and hormones to juveniles. Many states with Republican supermajorities, such as Missouri, have targeted transgender issues in their legislatures.
The case might end up in the country’s highest court. Last month, transgender kids, their families, and their medical professionals petitioned the Supreme Court to overturn a Tennessee statute that prohibits minors from receiving gender-affirming therapy. If the case is heard by the Supreme Court, it will be the first opportunity for the justices to weigh in on such limits, according to The Washington Post.
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