Ohio’s governor on Friday vetoed a bill that would restrict transition-related care for minors and restrict transgender girls’ participation on school sports teams.
Gov. Mike DeWine’s veto makes him one of only two Republican governors to veto restrictions on gender-affirming care in 2021, along with Arkansas Gov. Asa Hutchinson. , becoming one of only three Republican governors to veto a trans-athlete bill, following Utah’s Governor Spencer. Cox and Indiana Gov. Eric Holcomb said last year.
At a news conference Friday after the veto, DeWine said the “gut-wrenching” decision about whether minors should have access to gender-affirming care “should not be made by the government, it should be made by the state of Ohio. Rather, it should be done by the child’s parents and the doctor.
Before vetoing the bill, DeWine told The Associated Press that he visited three children’s hospitals in Ohio to learn more about transition-related care, and told the AP he visited three children’s hospitals in Ohio to learn more about transition-related care. He said he had spoken to his family.
“We are dealing with children who are going through difficult times, families who are going through difficult times,” he said. “We want to get it right as much as possible.”
The Ohio General Assembly is overwhelmingly controlled by Republicans and can override a governor’s veto with a three-fifths majority.
DeWine’s veto comes after weeks of intense debate and lobbying over the bill. According to WCMH-TV, state Rep. Gary Click, the bill’s lead Republican sponsor, said earlier this month that minors should not have “the necessary information to make very risky, life-altering decisions” regarding their medical care. “I can’t give you formed consent.” , an NBC affiliate in Columbus.
More than 290 people, including many doctors, registered to speak at opposition hearings on the bill held earlier this month, according to WCMH-TV.
One of them, Dr. Christopher Bowling, a retired pediatrician who spoke on behalf of the Ohio chapter of the American Academy of Pediatrics, told NBC News that the bill targets a very small number of adolescents. Boling practiced for more than 30 years and treated thousands of families before retiring last year. Of these, he said he only worked with 20 to 30 people with persistent gender dysphoria. He said he referred most of them to Cincinnati Children’s Hospital, where they reported having a positive experience.
Proponents of restricting transitional care for minors cite European countries restricting access to such care. However, Boling noted that no country has banned it, but rather questions it, and said that all doctors perform all kinds of treatments. She said that while there may be disagreement among doctors about the best way to treat trans minors, that disagreement is not unique to gender-affirming care.
“With two pediatricians in one room, we can probably spend four hours talking about how to treat ear infections and different opinions about how to do it,” he said. “There will be disagreements about how to do complex care, but this is complex care. At this point, legislators come in and say, ‘This is settled and we need to treat it this way.’ That’s ridiculous. They do it under the excuse of “I just want to take my time and make sure it’s really safe.” Well, if you forbid it, you’ll never know if it’s safe or not. ”
More than a dozen major medical organizations, including the American Medical Association, American Academy of Pediatrics, and American Psychological Association, support access to transition-related care for minors and oppose state bans.
Last month, many people testified in favor of the bill, which also aims to limit the participation of trans students and athletes. Riley Gaines, a former University of Kentucky swimmer who swam with transgender University of Pennsylvania swimmer Leah Thomas, testified that Thomas was “not a one-off,” WCMH-TV reported.
“Across the country and in a variety of sports, female athletes are not only losing titles and awards to men, but also roster spots and opportunities,” Gaines said.
Gaines did not elaborate on other instances of transgender athlete participation that she believed were unfair. But in 2021, The Associated Press reached out to 20 state legislators who support restrictions on trans athletes and found that it caused problems among the hundreds of thousands of American students who play sports. It turned out to be only once.
In the past three years, 22 states have passed restrictions on gender transition-related care for minors, and 23 states have allowed trans athletes to change their gender identity, according to the Movement Advancement Project, an LGBTQ group. They say they passed a law banning them from playing on school sports teams that align with their identity. tank.