By: Felicia Jordan
COLUMBUS, Ohio — Friday morning, Governor Mike DeWine vetoed House Bill 68, otherwise known as the SAFE Act, which would have banned gender-affirming care in Ohio, including hormone blockers, hormone replacement therapy (HRT), medical or surgical procedures and some mental health services.
The bill also would have prevented anyone not born female from participating in girls’ sports in Ohio. The bill passed in the House and Senate with all 62 House Republicans and 24 out of 25 Senate Republicans voting in favor.
DeWine said he consulted with those both for and against the bill, including physicians at five of Ohio’s children’s hospitals, parents of children who have transitioned, counselors, and people who are in favor of pausing access to gender-affirming care.
In the end, he said he felt he could do nothing but veto the bill.
“Parents have looked me in the eye and have told me that but for this treatment, their child would be dead,” said DeWine.
He said he acknowledges that people on both sides of the issue sincerely believe their position is what’s best to protect children in Ohio, but that it’s a complex issue overall. Still, as it’s currently written, DeWine said HB-68 fell short of what he felt was best for children who would have been impacted by the bill’s enactment.
“This bill impacts a very small number of Ohio’s children, but for those children who face gender dysphoria and for their families, the consequences of this bill could not be more profound,” said DeWine.
He explained he’d spoken to many families in which children began gender-affirming care but did not complete it, or chose to de-transition later; those who fully transitioned told him their lives were strongly impacted for the better, he said.
DeWine said he’d been told, not just by parents, but by adults who transitioned, that gender-affirming care was life-saving.
“I’ve also been told by those who are now grown adults that, but for this care, they would have taken their life when they were teenagers,” said DeWine.
He stressed that his decision was about preserving the lives of Ohioans.
He also said he felt treatments should be up to parents, who know their child best and can consult with medical professionals to navigate the complicated processes, along with therapy services.
“Were I to sign House Bill 68, or were House Bill 68 to become law, Ohio would be saying that the state, that the government, knows better what is medically best for a child than the two people who love that child the most — the parents,” said DeWine.
But DeWine said he does plan to take action, just not the specific actions outlined in HB-68.
He laid out three things he said he plans to direct his administration to take on:
- First, DeWine said he will direct the legislature to draft rules that will ban transgender surgery for anyone under the age of 18.
- Second, DeWine plans to direct agencies to draft rules that will require data on gender-affirming care be collected and reported to the general assembly every six months for both adult and minor patients.
- Third, DeWine said he would direct rules be drafted that will prevent pop-up clinics that often don’t provide adequate care or lack necessary counseling components in their treatment.
Many activists expressed concerns about the bill, specifically as it could have impacted mental health issues among trans youth. Tristan Vaught, Transform Cincy co-founder, said they feared the legislation banning gender-affirming care for minors could lead to young people diagnosed with gender dysphoria having increased complications.
Bill supporters testified to a Senate committee in late November that the gender-affirming care bans outlined in HB 68 — including certain mental health treatments, medication like puberty blockers and reassignment surgeries — would protect children in Ohio.
Matt Sharp with Alliance Defending Freedom testified before the government oversight committee as a proponent.
“This bill protects children. Children who deserve to have a natural childhood,” Sharp said.
Others like Dr. David Bonnet testified that the science underlining gender-affirming care treatments, especially in the long-term, wasn’t rock solid — leaving room for harm.
Retired pediatrician and Ohio American Association of Pediatrics consultant Christopher Bolling pushed back on bill supporters. He said the science behind gender-affirming care is constantly developing the same way all medical research constantly develops.
“Medicine is constantly evolving,” he said. “Our treatment for cancer today is different than it was six weeks ago.”
Bolling said that underscored why gender-affirming care should be left up to kids, their parents and medical professionals to decide without interference from lawmakers.
Reposted with permission from WCPO 9 Cincinnati.