Ohio’s Gov Shocks GOP By Vetoing Ban That Would Have Restricted Trans Care For Minors

In a shock move, Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine (R-OH) vetoed a bill Friday that would have banned gender-affirming care for minors, saying visits to children’s hospitals helped change his mind on the issue.

In an impassioned press conference, DeWine explained why he couldn’t allow the state to make decisions that parents should be making:

Parents are making decisions about the most precious thing in their life — their child. And none of us, none of us should underestimate the gravity of and difficulty of those decisions. These are gut-wrenching decisions that should be made by parents, and should be informed by teams of doctors who are advising them. These are parents who have watched their child suffer, sometimes for years, and who have real concerns that their child may not survive to reach adulthood. While the child’s care team informs their decisions, it is the parents who are living with that child who knows that child better than anyone else in the word does.

DeWine is just the second Republican governor, behind Arkansas Gov. Asa Hutchinson (R-AR), to veto such a trans care restriction for minors, and is one of just three GOP governors to veto a trans athlete bill, along with governors Spencer Cox (R-UT) and Eric Holcomb (R-IN), NBC News reported.

The bill also would have prohibited transgender girls from participating on school sports teams.

The issues of trans medical care for minors and allowing trans athletes to participate in school sports have become “culture war” talking points for the GOP. But DeWine told the Associated Press that visits to three children’s hospitals and meetings with families of trans kids prompted him to buck the party line.

“We’re dealing with children who are going through a challenging time, families that are going through a challenging time,” he said. “I want, the best I can, to get it right.”

Ohio’s General Assembly is controlled by a Republican supermajority that could override the veto with a three-fifths majority vote. “GOP lawmakers hold enough seats to override DeWine’s veto, but if or when they would do so was not immediately clear,” the AP reported.

Watch the clip above via X.