Ohio Legislature Overrides Governor’s Veto of Bill Prohibiting Experimental Transgender Treatments for Minors

A bill passed by the Ohio House and Senate that protects minors from transgender medical interventions and blocks males from competing against girls and women in sports will take effect in 90 days after the state House and Senate have now voted to override Gov. Mike DeWine’s (R) veto of the legislation.

Ohio’s Senate voted Wednesday, 24-8, to override the governor’s veto of House Bill 68 following the House’s vote January 10 to override, 65-28.

Ohio State Rep. Gary Click (R-88), a Baptist pastor and author of the bill, said in a statement:

The Ohio Senate deserves to be commended today for its commitment to protecting women and children by overriding the Governor's veto of House Bill 68. The SAFE Act and Save Women's Sports Act are the civil rights issues of our day, ensuring that children have the right to grow up intact and that women are no longer subject to men invading their spaces. Senator Kristina Roegner's kind and patient leadership throughout the committee process has been commendable.

Click was charitable toward DeWine, expressing his confidence that the governor “acted from his heart” in vetoing the legislation.

“I continue to feel that with more time and opportunity it may have been possible for the governor to share in our understanding of this vital issue,” he said.

Click noted in a recent interview with Washington Watch with Tony Perkins that DeWine wanted to allow minors to have access to puberty blockers.

“I just had to say no,” the lawmaker said. “I’ve had to fight that the whole way, every step of the way. And they think only about the sex changes, as far as surgically, but they don’t think about sex changes chemically. And that is the crux of this bill. Unless they do that, they don’t get to the rest of this.”

“As you well know, 85 to 95% of the kids will grow out of their gender dysphoria when they go through puberty,” Click told Perkins. “But if they put on the puberty blockers, 98% will go on to the opposite sex hormones and then ultimately later to surgery, and that’s what we’re trying to get ahead of.”

Click said in his statement about the override of the governor’s veto that the Ohio legislature “felt just as strongly if not more so that HB 68 was imperative to save lives, uphold medical ethics, and reaffirm women's rights.”

“The sentiment of Ohio's citizens was heard and reflected across the nation,” he added. “The citizens of Ohio were unequivocal in their demand that the legislature act and we did. The system worked.”