Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine, a Republican, on Friday issued an executive order prohibiting gender-transition surgeries on minors in his state and issued draft administrative rules on so-called gender-affirming care for minors and adults. DeWine’s directives came a week after his Dec. 29 veto of House Bill 68, the Saving Adolescents from Experimentation (SAFE) Act, which would restrict any gender-affirming care for minors in Ohio and bar biological males who “identify” as females from participating in girls’ and women’s interscholastic athletics.
Heritage Foundation legal scholar Sarah Parshall Perry herewith takes issue with DeWine’s decision. (The Daily Signal is the news outlet of The Heritage Foundation.)
Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine just vetoed a bill that would have protected women and children in the Buckeye State.
HB 68 is a commonsense bill with broad support designed to do two things: Protect minor children from irreversible damage by banning experimental surgeries and cross-sex hormones for those under 18 and prevent males from competing in female scholastic athletics.
70% of Americans agree that both minor children shouldn’t be rammed through gender-transition procedures and that boys don’t belong in women’s sports, which makes sense considering that those aren’t controversial positions. But Gov. DeWine would rather capitulate to a vocal minority screaming “settled science” or “trans women are women.”
Without evidence, he also claims that his own executive action on the issue would have a better chance of surviving judicial review. He’s wrong, and the lawmakers of Ohio should show him by exercising a veto override before women and children have to pay the price for his political correctness.
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