Ohio Governor Mike DeWine vetoed a bill banning gender-affirming care for children—becoming only the second Republican governor to reject a ban on transgender healthcare.
Ohio’s comprehensive bill would have banned all gender-affirming care for minors and banned all ... [+]
The Ohio legislature passed H.B. 68 on December 18—a comprehensive bill banning all gender affirming care for minors and requiring grade schools, public colleges, and private universities to ban transgender students from participating on single-sex sports teams.
DeWine said he “cannot sign this bill as currently written,” and directed legislators to implement new rules only restricting more controversial aspects of transgender healthcare.
“Ohio would be saying that the state or the government knows better, than what is medically best for a child, than the two people that love that child the most—the parents,” DeWine said at a press conference announcing his decision.
Before making the decision, the governor said he “sought out people on all sides of the issue to listen to their concerns,” including physicians providing gender-affirming care and families of transgender youth.