Former President Trump has joined a growing list of conservatives criticizing Ohio Governor Mike DeWine for vetoing the Safe Adolescents from Experimentation Act.
The bill, which passed the Republican-controlled Legislature, bans gender reassignment surgery for minors and prevents biological boys and men from competing in women’s sports.
“If I were to sign Foster Home Bill 68 into law, or if Foster Home Bill 68 became law, Ohio would say that the state, i.e. the government, knows what is medically best for the child, not the two people who love it most child, parents,” said DeWine, explaining his veto.
“Although there are rare cases in the law, in other circumstances where the state overturns medical decisions made by parents, I can think of no example of a situation where this was done not only against the parents’ decision, but also against the medical judgment of the treating physician. and the team of doctors providing treatment,” he continued.
The Republican governor argued that his decision was intended to “protect human life,” recalling how “many parents have told me that their child would not be alive today if they had not received the treatment they received at Ohio Children’s Hospital.” DeWine says he heard the same message from “grown adults” who said that if it weren’t for the surgery, they would commit suicide.
According to his statement, the governor agrees with the General Assembly that transgender surgery should not be performed on people under 18 and said he is “directing our agencies to develop regulations to prohibit this practice in Ohio.”
Trump took DeWine’s decision as an indication that the Republican had “fallen toward the radical left.”
“No wonder he gets booed loudly in Ohio every time I introduce him at rallies, but I won’t be introducing him anymore. I’m done with the “stiff” thing – 45vol – said the president on the Truth Social program. “What was he thinking. The bill would end child mutilation and prevent men from playing women’s sports. Hopefully the Legislature will be overturned. Do it quickly!!!”
TRUMP ON MIKE DEWINE: As ‘fell to the radical left. No wonder he gets booed loudly in Ohio every time I introduce him at rallies, but I won’t be introducing him anymore… Let’s hope the Legislature falls [the veto]. Do it quickly.” pic.twitter.com/T1reKEv44v
— Election Wizard (@ElectionWiz) December 30, 2023
At Friday’s press conference, DeWine noted how controversial the topic has become.
“These are really complex issues and reasonable people reach very different conclusions,” he said. “This bill would impact a very small number of children in Ohio, but for those children who struggle with gender dysphoria and for their families, the consequences could not be more profound.”
In addition to many conservative commentators who criticized DeWine for the veto, “transitioner” Chloe Cole spoke out against the governor’s decision and disagreed with the suicide “lie” that was also taught to her parents.
“They were told the decision would be between one or the other [of] two things: either having a daughter who was suicidal and ultimately died, or having a living transgender son – but that’s not true,” she explained in the program Fox News. “These children are not committing suicide because they were born in the wrong body. This is a completely psychological problem and these children are not getting the help they need.”
Cole continued: “They need psychiatric aid. They need to know that they are perfect in the bodies they were born with. If he [DeWine] “truly believes in his heart that perfectly fit children can be born evil, that they need to be corrected, I believe he should be expelled from office.”
