Mike DeWine took $40,300 from Ohio hospitals that perform child sex changes before vetoing bill to protect kids from the practice

After Ohio Governor Mike DeWine vetoed legislation that would have banned sex changes for minors, a new report revealed that he has received thousands in campaign donations from hospitals that conduct or support those procedures. 

According to the Daily Caller, from 2018 to 2023 DeWine received $40,300 total from the Ohio Children’s Hospital Association (OCHA), Cincinnati Children’s, Nationwide Children’s Hospital, and ProMedica Children’s Hospital. 

Investigative researcher for Capital Research Parker Thayer, pointed out on X, that nearly half of the medical donations came from the OHCA. "How nice of him to veto a bill that would have cost 'gender affirming' children's hospitals millions of dollars." 

In reaction to the governor's veto, OHCA president Nick Lashutka said, "We are thankful for Governor DeWine’s thoughtful approach in thoroughly researching the issue of gender-affirming care and vetoing Sub HB 68 today." He added, "We welcome the opportunity to work with the Governor, the Ohio General Assembly and relevant state agencies to ensure Ohio’s youth have access to the critical care they need while also addressing concerns raised during debate on HB 68.

HB 68 would have prevented children from receiving life-altering medical interventions intended to change a child's sex. It also would have barred males from competing in female sports. 

In defense of his veto, Dewine said, "This bill would impact a very small number of Ohio's children, but for those children who face gender dysphoria, the consequences of this bill could not be more profound." He claimed it was "about protecting human life." 

The Ohio governor is one of only a few Republican lawmakers who have sided with trans activists on child sex changes. The first and one of the most notable was then Arkansas Governor Asa Hutchinson, who vetoed a similar bill in April 2021. He subsequently lost his governorship to Sarah Huckabee Sanders in the Republican Primary. 

Earlier this year Nevada's Republican Governor Joe Lombardo signed a bill that forced insurance companies to pay for minors to get sex change operations as long as the procedure is "recommended by a psychologist, psychiatrist or other mental health professional" as well as a physician."

At the time, Founder of the Center for American Liberty Harmeet K. Dhillon claimed on Twitter the governor used the transgender bills as a bargaining chip to get the legislature to "give him a Las Vegas Stadium for the Oakland A's."

A Harvard-Harris poll from June revealed that 68 percent of Democrats oppose sex changes for minors, while 11 percent of Republicans support them.