COLUMBUS — Conservatives obtained a huge win in Ohio this afternoon when its state House of Representatives voted to overturn GOP Gov. Mike DeWine’s veto of H.B. No. 68 — a bill that would prohibit doctors from offering children cross-sex hormones and transgender surgeries and prevent men who identify as women from competing in female sports.
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When DeWine vetoed the bill in late December, he argued that “many parents have told me that their child would be dead today if they had not received the treatment they received from an Ohio children’s hospital.” DeWine, alongside Democrats in the Legislature, claimed that signing the bill would mean that the state would be making medical decisions in lieu of “parents” and “medical experts.” He opted to instead sign an executive order that banned transgender surgeries for minors.
The response from Ohio state legislators like Rep. Jenna Powell, who has been working to pass a bill to keep male athletes out of female sports since 2019, and Rep. Gary Click, who sponsored H.B. No. 68, was simple. They wanted a law that couldn’t change on the whim of the next governor.
Click called the legislation “carefully curated and well-vetted” and said on Wednesday that there isn’t scientific evidence that offering minors the option to be permanently mutilated lowers suicide rates. “Ohio’s hospitals first began experimenting … in 2014,” he said. “There was no epidemic of children committing suicide … prior to that date.” Additionally, there is certainly plenty of evidence that allowing men who identify as women to compete against real women doesn’t end well.
The battle isn’t quite over because the Ohio Senate now has to follow suit when it votes on the issue on Jan. 24, but the news is certainly worth celebrating. That is especially true because Ohio did not exactly end 2023 as a bastion of conservative values. Not only did DeWine veto H.B. 68 in the last few days of the year, but Ohio voters also decided to enshrine abortion into the state’s Constitution back in November. Conservatives should certainly celebrate their wins.
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