BREAKING: Ohio House upholds ban on child sex changes in override of Mike DeWine's veto

The Ohio House on Wednesday voted to uphold the ban on child sex changes in the state, overriding Governor Mike DeWine's veto. DeWine, a Republican, vetoed the bill on December 29, 2023. The House voted 65 to 28 to keep the ban in place.

The Ohio Senate is yet to vote, and will be able to make that decision on January 24. Together, the legislature will need 60 percent of the vote of both chambers to uphold their reversal of DeWine's veto.

In issuing his veto of the bill, DeWine said that he had listened to so-called "trans kids" who explained that they thought it was wrong to prevent them from medically undergoing gender transition. This process includes puberty blockers that stunt growth, cross-sex hormones that create the appearance of secondary sex characteristics of the opposite sex, and in some cases, surgery to remove healthy breasts, to augment a male chest, or genital surgeries.

The bill DeWine rejected would stop the practice of doctors medically stopping puberty with puberty blockers, prescribing cross-sex hormones, and encouraging children who allegedly believe they were born in the wrong body from attempting to medically alter their bodies to that they appear more like the opposite sex. It would also protect women's sports from incursion by male athletes. 

Parents and minors who believe they are trans spoke out in a December 6, 2023 hearing in the state legislature. One mom said both her kids were trans and both had attempted suicide. She stated her belief that allowing them access to medical sex change procedures would be a help for them.

"The decisions that parents are making are not easy decisions," DeWine said during a press conference when he announced he would not support banning sex changes for children.

"These tough, tough decisions should not be made by the government. They should not be made by the state of Ohio. They should be made by the people who love these kids the most. And that's the parents, the parents who raised the child, the parents who have seen that child go through agony."

He said outright that he doesn't believe surgeries for sex changes are given to minors, despite detransitioned persons speaking out to the legislature about the regrets they felt at having been subjected to body-altering surgery prior to the age of majority.

DeWine took funding from the very hospitals that support sex changes for minors.

This is a breaking story and will be updated.