COLUMBUS, Ohio — Republican Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine vetoed a measure Friday that would have banned gender-affirming care for minors, casting the action out of step with many in his own party as thoughtful, limited and “pro-life.”
He simultaneously announced plans to move to administratively ban transgender surgeries until a person is 18, and to position the state to better regulate and track gender-affirming treatments in both children and adults.
At a news conference, DeWine said he hoped the hybrid approach could win the support of legislative Republicans — who immediately signaled they’re considering a veto override — as well as serve as a national model to states, as gender-affirming care restrictions enacted across the country in recent years face lawsuits.
The vetoed bill also would have banned transgender athletes’ participation in girls’ and women’s sports.
DeWine said he listened to people on both sides of the legislation who all “sincerely and truly believe their position best protects children,” ultimately deciding he could not support legislation that bans health care so many patients, families and doctors told him is saving lives.
“Ultimately, these tough, tough decisions should not be made by the government. They should not be made by the state of Ohio,” DeWine said. “They should be made by the people who love these kids the most, and that’s the parents. The parents who have raised that child, the parents who have seen that child go through agony, the parents who worry about that child every single day of their life.”
The governor’s veto drew swift rebukes Friday from supporters of gender-affirming care bans, both in the state and nationally.
Republican Bernie Moreno, a Trump-endorsed candidate for U.S. Senate, and Center for Christian Virtue President Aaron Baer both called on the Legislature to override his veto.
“Mike DeWine has failed Ohio, and it’s our children who are going to pay the price,” Baer said in a statement.
Terry Schilling, president of the conservative American Principles Project, said in a statement that DeWine had succumbed to “egregious lies” being perpetuated about transgender care. He said history would remember that DeWine “gave into cowardice and caved to the transgender industry that is preying on so many vulnerable individuals.”
The conservative Christian legal group Alliance Defending Freedom called DeWine’s veto a betrayal.
Republican state Rep. Gary Click, the bill’s sponsor, stopped short of supporting a veto override. He commended DeWine for trying to wrap his mind around a complex problem in a short amount of time, while defending his own years of research on the bill. Click said he was particularly disappointed that the ban on transgender girls playing sports could be sidelined if nonlegislative solutions were pursued on gender-affirming care.
House Democrats said the legislation was based on hate and DeWine’s veto supported “fundamental freedom” and parental rights. Senate Democratic Leader Nickie Antonio, the first openly gay person to serve in the Ohio General Assembly, said her party would continue its fight “until all may enjoy the freedom to live their authentic lives without government interference.”
The Human Rights Campaign, the nation’s largest LGBTQ+ rights organization, and the American Academy of Pediatrics’ Ohio chapter also lauded the veto as a positive for some of the state’s most vulnerable youth.
