[NRO] The Ohio House of Representatives on Wednesday afternoon voted to override Governor Mike DeWine’s veto of legislation that would ban child gender transition hormone therapy and surgeries as well as boys in girls’ sports.
In a 65—28 vote, the chamber, after convening for a special session, rejected the Republican governor’s attempt to kill the SAFE Act. The bill now heads to the state senate, which will be in session on January 24, for an override vote.
In a statement following his veto, DeWine explained that he’d be announcing subsequent action specifically regarding child gender transition procedures, but not hormone injections and puberty blockers. Last week, DeWine issued an "emergency" executive order barring physicians from performing gender-transition surgeries, such as mastectomies and hysterectomies, on kids in Ohio’s hospitals and health-care facilities.
DeWine, a Republican, came under fire for vetoing the bill previously. He defended his decisions by arguing that signing the bill “would be saying that the state…knows better what is medically best for the child than the two people who love that child the most – the parents.”
It was later revealed that DeWine had received substantial donations from medical organizations that favored the use of “gender-affirming care” on children.
A review of donations from 2018 to 2023 found that the governor received $40,300 from the Ohio Children’s Hospital Association (OCHA), Cincinnati Children’s, Nationwide Children’s Hospital and ProMedica Children’s Hospital, all of whom support transgender medical care.
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