Republican Governor Mike DeWine of Ohio vetoed a state proposal that would have prohibited gender-affirming health care for transgender minors. DeWine told reporters on Friday that the ban would be counterproductive.
Only the second Republican governor, DeWine, has exercised a veto over such a measure.
In 2021, former Arkansas governor Asa Hutchinson (R) vetoed the first moratorium on gender-affirming health care in the United States.
Additionally, House Bill 68 aimed to prohibit transgender girls and women from participating in female school athletics teams.
DeWine stated on Friday that he had traveled the state for the past two weeks on a “fact-finding mission” since receiving House Bill 68, which included interviews with medical professionals and families of transgender children.
He also addressed opponents of the extreme treatments such as hormone replacement therapy, puberty blockers, and surgery, he added.
Ohio Republicans, who voted overwhelmingly in favor of the bill, presumably will vote to override DeWine’s veto since they hold supermajorities in both chambers of the legislature.
In Ohio, health care providers will be prohibited from administering extreme sex change operations on minors juveniles and from engaging in conduct that “assists or abets” in the administration of such action if an override attempt is successful.
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