Ohio governor Mike DeWine (R.) on Friday vetoed a bill that would have banned both transgender procedures for minors and trans student-athlete participation in school sports in the state.

The governor vetoed Ohio House Bill 68 on the last day the bill could have been signed into law, becoming one of the few Republican governors to veto similar restrictions. Former Arkansas governor Asa Hutchinson vetoed a ban on transgender care for minors in 2021, while Utah governor Spencer Cox and Indiana governor Eric Holcomb made the same decisions with their states’ respective trans-athlete bills.

In a press conference following his veto decision, DeWine said the government nor the state of Ohio should restrict a minor’s access to transgender surgeries or related treatment. Rather, he said the decision should be made by the child’s parents and doctors.

The bill in question was composed of the “Save Adolescents from Experimentation Act” and “Save Women’s Sports Act,” each of which was dedicated to combatting the widespread application of the transgender ideology in Ohio.

“I truly believe that we can address a number of goals in House Bill 68 by administrative rules that will have likely a better chance of surviving judicial review and being adopted,” DeWine added.

The newly vetoed bill could still go into effect if at least 60 percent of the state legislature votes to override the governor’s decision.

Two days ago, former college swimmer Riley Gaines called out DeWine for hesitating to sign the bill, which has been on his desk since December 15 when it passed the GOP-controlled state legislature.

On Friday, shortly after the veto, Gaines called DeWine on social media a “spineless coward that needs to be removed from office.”