By Liberty Counsel ——Bio and Archives--January 24, 2024
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COLUMBUS, OH – Today, the Ohio Senate joined with the House to override Governor Mike DeWine’s veto of HB 68 which will now allow the state to protect gender-confused children from medical mutilation and protect females from having to compete against biological males in interscholastic sports.
The Ohio Senate voted 23-9 joining the House, which voted earlier this month 65-28, in overriding the veto and fully enacting HB 68, known as the “Saving Ohio Adolescents from Experimentation (SAFE) Act.”
The SAFE Act specifically bans physicians from administering mutilating puberty blockers, hormone treatments, and gender surgeries on children under 18. The bill was combined with the “Save Women’s Sports Act” to protect female sports by barring biological male athletes from competing on female sports teams in schools and in public and private colleges. The SAFE Act also codifies parental rights in the state by allowing parents to raise their children “in a manner consistent with the child’s biological sex” without interference from the courts.
Now that both chambers have passed the override vote, HB 68 will take effect in April 2024. Ohio legislators overwhelmingly passed the SAFE Act in December 2023 to protect children in the state from the gender ideology agenda. Gov. DeWine vetoed the bill stating it would be a form of government overreach interfering with parents and doctors about what is “medically” best for a child. However, Gov. DeWine then issued an executive order on January 5, 2024 enacting emergency rules that banned mutilating gender surgeries for minors in any surgical facility in the state. In the order, Gov. DeWine clearly agreed with the Ohio legislature about gender surgeries and blocked them from being performed on a minor, but he fell short of prohibiting puberty blockers and hormone treatments.
At least 23 other states have enacted laws protecting women’s sports and at least 22 other states have enacted laws protecting minors from mutilating surgeries. Ohio belongs to the Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals, which has already upheld laws in Kentucky and Tennessee protecting children from medical mutilation.
Liberty Counsel Founder and Chairman Mat Staver said, “Ohio legislators have overridden Governor Mike DeWine in overwhelming fashion. These lawmakers are doing what all legislators should do, and that is enact wide-ranging protections for children from the harmful gender ideology agenda. These medical interventions are harmful, scientifically unsupported, and in many cases irreversible. Protecting women’s sports with these laws also ensures the safety of women and girls. All states need to stand against this radical ideology.”
For more information about state laws protecting against gender ideology, visit Liberty Counsel’s website here.
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Liberty Counsel is an international nonprofit, litigation, education, and policy organization dedicated to advancing religious freedom, the sanctity of life, and the family since 1989, by providing pro bono assistance and representation on these and related topics.