The Ohio Senate successfully overrode Gov. Mike DeWine’s (R-OH) veto on the controversial House Bill 68, which bans all gender transition medicine for minors and requires transgender athletes to play on teams matching their biological sex.
The state Senate voted 23-10 to enact the Save Adolescents from Experimentation, or SAFE, Act. The bill initially passed the Senate on Dec. 13, 24-8.
The lower chamber already voted to override DeWine’s veto, meaning the bill will become law.
DeWine’s move to veto HB 68 was a rare occurrence, with just over 100 bills having been vetoed since 1969. The legislature has only attempted to override nine other bills in the past 40 years.
Speeches on whether to override the governor’s veto were briefly interrupted by a protester against the bill shouting that “Jesus loves the little children.” Many of the subsequent floor speeches on both sides of the topic after the outburst referenced Jesus, with many Republicans arguing that God assigns biological sex.
“It is not possible for a man to become a woman or a woman to become a man,” state Sen. Kristina Roegner said on the Senate floor before the vote. “Gender is not assigned at birth, but rather from the moment of conception.”
Roegner added that “gender-affirming care” is impossible because “you can’t affirm something that doesn’t exist.”
State Sen. Paula Hicks-Hudson praised the Republican governor’s veto as a “thoughtful” and “courageous decision.”
“One of the most important things that we know from medical practice is you first do no harm,” said Hicks-Hudson in opposition to the override vote. “And what we are doing today is creating major harm for a small segment of the state of Ohio population, our citizens.”
The legislation goes further than the regulations announced by DeWine by banning puberty blockers and cross-sex hormones for minors across the board rather than requiring extensive psychological evaluation prior to prescribing.
Matt Sharp, senior counsel for the conservative legal advocacy group Alliance Defending Freedom, applauded the Senate’s override that corrected DeWine’s “misguided veto.”
“Biology is clear: There are only two sexes — male and female — and denying this basic truth only hurts the most vulnerable, our precious children,” Sharp told the Washington Examiner.
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The text of the bill identifies that the state has a “compelling government interest” in the health and safety of children and says that gender dysphoria often presents with other psychological comorbidities, “including depression, anxiety, attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, autism spectrum disorder, and other mental health conditions.”
Sharp told the Washington Examiner that Wednesday’s vote makes Ohio one of “more than 20 other states and several European countries in fighting for truth and curtailing the deployment of harmful surgeries and drugs that are devastating countless lives.”
