The Republican-led Ohio state House voted on Wednesday to override Governor Mike DeWine’s veto of a bill that would ban gender procedures for minors and prevent boys from competing in girls’ sports.
Ohio House Republicans will now send the vote to the Senate after a 65-28 vote.
Republican Senate President Matt Huffman, told NBC 4 that the state Senate will likely vote to override DeWine’s veto on January 24.
Ohio House Bill 68, passed by the Republican-controlled Ohio General Assembly, was made up of two acts: the “Save Adolescents from Experimentation Act” and the “Save Women’s Sports Act.”
The bill would ban transgender procedures on minors and would also prohibit biological boys from competing in girls’ sports across the state.
State lawmakers must now come up with three-fifths of both the House and the Senate to vote for DeWine’s veto to be overridden and for the bill to become law.
The Ohio governor said he was concerned about the legal implications of signing HB 68 into law.
“I truly believe that we can address a number of goals in House Bill 68 by administrative rules that will have likely a better chance of surviving judicial review and being adopted,” DeWine said.
“Ultimately, I believe this is about protecting human life.”
“Many parents have told me that their child would not have survived, would be dead today, if they did not receive the treatment they received from one of Ohio’s children’s hospitals,” he continued. “I’ve also been told by those who are now grown adults that, but for this care, they would’ve taken their life when they were teenagers.”
