Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine on Friday morning vetoed House Bill 68, which would ban gender-affirming care for transgender teens, saying it should be a decision left to parents, not the state of Ohio.
DeWine went on to say he could find no evidence that any physicians in Ohio have given teenagers transgender care, but said he would issue an order banning such surgery without parental consent.
"Ultimately, I think this is about preserving human life," DeWine said in a Columbus press conference. "If I signed this bill, or let it become law, I would be saying the state of Ohio knows better than the people who love these children the most, the parents."
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He didn't address the other part of House Bill 68, which would ban transgender athletes from competing in girls' high school sports.
The veto could be overridden by a two-thirds vote of both the Ohio House and Senate Republicans — both of which have a veto-proof supermajority
But DeWine said he wants to work with legislators on administrative rules that would require counseling for teens who want transgender care.
State Rep. Gary Click, a Baptist preacher in Fremont, Ohio, introduced the bill in February, and had the support of most of the Republican supermajority in the Ohio House.
As it made its way through the House and Senate, 21 Ohio medical institutions testified against House Bill 68 in committee hearings.
Earlier this month, the Ohio Senate voted 23-8 — with one northeast Ohio Republican voting no — to send House Bill 68 on to the governor's desk.
Under Ohio law, DeWine then had 10 days to either sign it, veto it or let it become law without his signature.
DeWine took every bit of that time to make his decision. Friday was the last day of the 10-day period.
Earlier this week, the governor told Ohio Public Radio that he used the time to thoroughly study the issue.
DeWine said he was trying to get as many facts as he can about the bill.
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"I spent a part of a day at Akron Children's Hospital, talking to the people who are directly involved in this program," DeWine said. "I did the same thing at Cincinnati Children's Hospital and I did it at Nationwide Children's Hospital here in Columbus. So three different days, I did that. I'm also talking frankly to people who testified in favor of the bill."
Opponents of the bill argued that minors in Ohio do not get transgender operations without parental consent and that the number of transgender athletes in Ohio schools amounts to only six.
