Ohio House overrides Gov. DeWine's veto of trans athlete, healthcare bill

[Leroy N. Soetoro]

https://www.nbc4i.com/news/politics/ohio-house-expected-to-override-gov-
dewines-veto-of-trans-athlete-healthcare-bill/

COLUMBUS, Ohio (WCMH) — The Ohio House has overridden Gov. Mike DeWine’s
veto of a bill that would ban gender-affirming care for minors and
transgender athletes’ participation in women’s sports.

The House voted 65 to 28 on Wednesday to reverse DeWine’s veto of House
Bill 68, legislation to prohibit Ohio’s children’s hospitals from
providing treatment like gender-reassignment surgery and hormone therapy
to trans minors. The measure also revokes the Ohio High School Athletic
Association’s trans-athlete policy and bars trans students from taking
part in female athletics.

“The party of so-called freedom is voting to take away your freedom today,
against their own Republican governor,” said Rep. Jessica Miranda (D-
Cincinnati). “With this vote to override the governor’s veto today, you
are literally killing our children. Take that in for a moment. Literally
killing our children. All to win your Republican primary races.
Disgusting.”

A legislative supermajority, three-fifths of both the House and Senate, is
required to overcome a governor’s veto. Senate President Matt Huffman
previously told NBC4 that the Senate is likely to follow suit on Jan. 24.

DeWine said he made his decision to veto after visiting several children’s
hospitals and listening to those on both sides of the argument who
“sincerely and truly believe their position best protects children.”
Ultimately, the governor said he could not support a measure that bans
healthcare deemed life-saving by patients and families.

“These tough, tough decisions should not be made by the government. They
should not be made by the state of Ohio,” DeWine said during a Dec. 29
news conference. “They should be made by the people who love these kids
the most, and that’s the parents. The parents who have raised that child,
the parents who have seen that child go through agony.”

The governor immediately faced a wave of criticism from notable
Republicans who support the Statehouse in overriding his veto, including
from former President Donald Trump, who wrote in a Truth Social post that
DeWine “has fallen to the Radical Left.”

“I’m finished with this ‘stiff.’ What was he thinking,” wrote Trump in the
Dec. 30 post. “The bill would have stopped child mutilation, and prevented
men from playing in women’s sports. Legislature will hopefully overturn.”

Rep. Tracy Richardson (R-Marysville) spoke in favor of overriding the veto
before Wednesday’s vote and said the Statehouse has listened and discussed
this legislation, that is “complex and important,” for the past three
years.

“We need to ensure that we able to protect our children,” said Richardson.
“We want them to have the chance to grow up before making any decisions to
permanently change their bodies, changes that will impact them forever.”

Rep. Anita Somani (D-Dublin), an OhioHealth OBGYN, said trans children and
adults “deserve our empathy and understanding instead of this aggressive
attack on their rights.”

“I’m disappointed what we’re doing is harmful to people in our state,
legislators don’t trust science and the hundreds of experts, the hundreds
of people that have come in and testified,” said Somani. “Overriding a
veto that was made after much deliberation and thought by a governor shows
the community how little we respect our colleagues.”

‘A de facto ban’ on transgender care
DeWine attempted to assuage the backlash from his party by signing an
executive order on Jan. 5 to bar Ohioans from receiving gender transition
surgery until they’re 18. While the Ohio Children’s Hospital Association
previously testified that the state’s children’s hospitals “do not perform
any surgeries on minors for the condition of gender dysphoria,” DeWine
said the order is necessary because there is a “broad consensus against
surgeries for minors.”

“This will ensure that surgeries of this type can never happen in Ohio,”
said DeWine, arguing that the executive order takes the issue “off the
table.”

However, Rep. Gary Click (R-Vickery), the primary sponsor of H.B. 68, said
the governor’s administrative orders “are no substitute for solid
legislation.” Click said it was inappropriate for DeWine to “discard the
hard and deliberative process of the General Assembly.”

“We have confidence that our colleagues in the Senate are going to follow
through and we’re going to protect Ohio’s women and children,” said Click
on Wednesday.

DeWine also said on Jan. 5 he has directed the Ohio Department of Health
and the Ohio Department of Mental Health and Addiction Services to propose
several other measures that “will provide protections for children and
adults receiving care in this area from hospitals and clinics.”

The draft rules would ensure that trans minors and adults are not
receiving treatment from what the governor called “fly-by-night” clinics.
The proposal would also mandate a team for trans individuals seeking care
that would include an endocrinologist, a bioethicist and a psychiatrist.

Trans patients also must provide “sufficient informed consent” for gender-
affirming care after comprehensive and lengthy mental health counseling,
under the proposed measure. For minors, parents also would have to give
informed consent. In addition, DeWine is directing the departments to
collect data submitted by providers on gender dysphoria and subsequent
treatment.

“These bans targeting LGTBQ+ individuals will endanger the lives of
children, normalize the hate the transgender community continues to face,”
said House Minority Leader Allison Russo (D-Upper Arlington). “H.B. 68 and
the governor’s proposed bans will create a hate tax in Ohio, where
families and children who need healthcare are forced to empty their bank
accounts and upend their lives to find care out of state.”

The ACLU of Ohio said the governor’s proposed restrictions “could amount
to a de facto ban on care for transgender youth and adults.” The
organization argues the measures would prohibit most primary care
providers from providing hormone treatments to trans people of any age,
enforce a list of cumbersome requirements and threaten to shut down care
across the state.

“This is a dangerous escalation and unfounded effort to control Ohioans’
bodies, lives, and futures,” said the ACLU. “In the interest of protecting
transgender people’s lives and their fundamental right to self-
determination, these radical and life-threatening proposals must not be
allowed to move forward.”

Equitas Health, one of the largest providers of gender-affirming care in
Ohio, said if DeWine’s proposed rules go into effect, they would be among
the most extreme in the nation. While 22 states have passed age
restrictions on gender-affirming care, only Florida has adopted
restrictions that attempt to deny care to transgender people of any age.

“These rules suggest licensed healthcare providers in Ohio — who are
frequently trained by Ohio’s own excellent clinical programs — are
incapable of even contemplating our own professional ethical codes, much
less referring to colleagues when clinically appropriate,” said Dr. Teagan
Vaughn, Equitas Health gender-affirming care director.

The organization noted that as recently as December, a federal judge ruled
that an Idaho law banning gender-affirming care for minors was
unenforceable, citing 14th Amendment rights to equal protection and due
process.

Unlike the executive order, these measures are not in effect immediately,
and must go through the rule-making process with several state panels and
opportunity for public comment through the next few weeks.

How many minors have received gender-affirming care in Ohio?
Ohio’s children’s hospitals have served about 3,300 individuals throughout
the past 10 years whose first appointment at a gender clinic took place
when they were under the age of 18. The average age at their first
appointment was 16 years old. Of those 3,300 individuals, only 7% were
prescribed a puberty blocker and only 35% were prescribed hormones.

“While the majority of patients are never prescribed medication as minors,
those who do take medication consider it lifesaving and crucial,” said
Nick Lashutka, Ohio Children’s Hospital Association president. “It is a
dangerous precedent for government to dictate when medication is
appropriate in pediatrics.”

Shefali Mahesh from the Department of Pediatrics at Akron Children’s
Hospital said 0.0015% of the more than 320,000 patients each year are
under the care of the institution’s multi-disciplinary team in its gender-
affirming care clinic.

Sean Miller, a 15-year-old trans Ohioan, testified that it is “degrading
to have to come to the Statehouse and beg my elected officials to treat
transgender people like me with basic respect and ask for basic
Constitutional rights.”

“Laws like this are pushing proud Ohioans like me out of our homes,” said
Miller. “I want to live in Ohio. But, if I do not have the right to choose
to live in a body that fits who I am on the inside, I cannot.”

Carey Callahan, a Bainbridge resident, also testified and said they are a
detransitioned woman who had to move out of Ohio to access gender-
affirming care. Callahan said they have experienced the circumstances
trans people often endure, like being belittled and humiliated in medical
offices.

“You aren’t protecting children from becoming a ‘detransitioner’ like me,”
said Callahan. “You are exiling good people from our state, traumatizing
kids and families, and working hard to make Ohio a less safe place to
raise kids.”

How many trans athletes participate in Ohio sports?
Nineteen trans girls — 10 in middle school and nine in high school — have
participated in girls’ sports since OHSAA’s policy was implemented eight
years ago, including the six trans high school students taking part during
the 2022-23 school year.

OHSAA, which says about 400,000 athletes in grades 7-12 participate in its
sanctioned sports each school year, asserted its policy is effective in
protecting the integrity of girls’ sports while also providing
participation opportunities for trans students.

The five-page policy states trans athletes “should have equal opportunity
to participate in sports” while preserving “the integrity of women’s
sports.” The document provides a step-by-step process for a trans student
to request OHSAA participation. Learn about the OHSAA’s approval process
for trans athletes here.

Connor McLaren, a trans Ohio high school student, testified at the
Statehouse she goes through the OHSAA approval policy each year to
participate in school athletics. McLaren said lawmakers are depriving kids
like her the opportunity to feel a sense of belonging when they need it
most.

“Playing sports and learning to function with a team, making those
connections, and learning how it feels to be part of a group that so
genuinely supports you changed my life, and I can’t imagine what I would
do without it,” said McLaren.

Parker, a trans central Ohio high school student whose full name wasn’t
given when they testified, said they have been playing field hockey their
entire life and spoke in support of OHSAA’s current policy. Parker accused
lawmakers of only “following on the bandwagon” of the previous states
banning trans athletes.

“It is evident that you are not saving women’s sports,” said Parker. “We
already have policies in place by the OHSAA that have worked for years.
Don’t take the opportunity for trans youth like me to play as their full
authentic self.”

https://www.nbc4i.com/news/politics/ohio-house-expected-to-override-gov-
dewines-veto-of-trans-athlete-healthcare-bill/


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