Republican Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine vetoed House Bill 68 (Save Adolescents from Experimentation (SAFE) Act and Save Women’s Sports Act) that bans child sexual mutilation and males from competing in female sports.
Ultimately, I believe this is about protecting human life. 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. I have also been told, by those that are now grown adults, that but for this care, they would have taken their lives when they were teenagers.What so many of these young people and their families have also told me is that nothing they have faced in life could ever prepare them for this extremely tough journey. Parents are making decisions about the most precious thing in their life, their child, and none of us should underestimate the gravity and the difficulty of those decisions.
The bill prevents physicians from mutilating children and prescribing them cross-sex hormones or puberty-blocking drugs.
DeWine agrees with the assembly “that no surgery of this kind should ever be performed on those under the age of 18.” He wants to ban that practice.
Were I to sign Substitute House Bill 68 or were Substitute House Bill 68 to become law, Ohio would be saying that the State, that the government, knows what is best medically for a child rather than the two people who love that child the most, the parents. While there are rare times in the law, in other circumstances, where the State overrules the medical decisions made by the parents, I can think of no example where this is done not only against the decision of the parents, but also against the medical judgement of the treating physician and the treating team of medical experts.
That also means DeWine won’t stop public schools from allowing biological males competing with and against biological females.
(1) Separate teams for participants of the female sex within female sports divisions;(2) Separate teams for participants of the male sex within male sports divisions;(3) If applicable, co-ed teams for participants of the female and male sexes within co-ed sports divisions.
DeWine did not include the sports part of the bill in his remarks. The Columbus Dispatch mentioned the governor has said “that he believes the issue shouldn’t be handled by government.”
Unfortunately, the Ohio High School Athletic Association allows biological males to join female teams after one year of hormone therapy.
The Ohio House can override the veto. Maybe DeWine did this as a way to appease Democrats and moderates because he knew the House would override his veto.
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