The Ohio Senate voted 24-8 to overturn Governor Mike DeWine’s veto of H.B. 68, the “Saving Adolescents from Experimentation (SAFE) Act,” reports the Center for Christian Virtue (CCV), a Focus on the Family-allied family policy council.
The Ohio House had voted to overturn the governor’s veto on January 10, by a vote of 65-28.
The bill protects children from damaging transgender medical interventions and safeguards girls’ and women’s sports in the Buckeye State.
Focus on the Family President Jim Daily applauded the win, saying:
Both the Ohio House and Senate have demonstrated their commitment to the safety and welfare of children. It’s also a victory for common sense. There are only two sexes – male and female. It is not government’s role to support a lie or affirm and encourage sexual confusion.
Chloe Cole, whose body was harmed by transgender medical procedures, and who has filed a lawsuit against the doctors and hospitals who damaged her, was at the Ohio Capitol for the vote. She applauded the veto override in a post on X and predicted the end of “child gender mutilation and gender ideology.”
Today Ohio overrode the governor’s Veto and has successfully secured the rights of children and protected women’s sports. The energy in the chamber is incredible.
Child gender mutilation and gender ideology as a whole will end with a whimper.
— Chloe Cole ⭐️ (@ChoooCole) January 24, 2024
CCV President Aaron Baer said in a statement:
No child is born in the wrong body, no matter what powerful and well-funded lobbyists say. Today, Ohio has told an exploitative medical industry that we reject your junk science and will no longer allow you to experiment on our children.
We’ve also guaranteed that every young woman in this state will have a free and fair playing field and will not be forced to compete against boys.
This marks a turning point in Ohio: We will not remain silent when are children are being harmed.
As previously reported in the Daily Citizen, the Ohio Senate overwhelming approved H.B. 68 in a 24-8 vote on December 13, 2023. The Ohio House of Representatives subsequently passed the SAFE Act on the same day by a wide margin in a 62-27 vote.
But Governor DeWine vetoed the popular legislation on January 3, saying in a press conference that he vetoed the bill to “protect human life.”
He then referred to the emotionally manipulative falsehood that mind- and body-damaging drugs, hormones and surgeries are somehow necessary to protect those caught up in transgender ideologies.
As we’ve often reported, transgender medical treatments are harmful and don’t help those struggling with sexual identity confusion. It’s important to note that gender cannot be “reassigned” – even with drugs or surgeries. Transgender medical interventions can make someone appear more like the opposite sex. But everyone’s sex is an innate biological trait; it cannot be changed nor reassigned.
Ohio now joins 21 other states that have passed legislation, often labeled “Help Not Harm,” that safeguards children from these horrific medical procedures. And in passing the “Save Women’s Sports Act” that was part of H.B. 68, Ohio became the 24th state with legislation protecting girls and women’s sports.
Baer applauded the legislators who sponsored the legislation and shepherded H.B. 68 through the voting process and the veto override. He also thanked the families who testified in favor of the SAFE Act, saying, “These families were willing to put it all on the line to make this bill become a law, and without them, H.B. 68 would not be here today.”
He concluded his statement by expressing his resolve to stand for children, saying, “CCV will continue to fight for children and to stand for the vulnerable in the mighty name of Jesus!”
Related Articles and Resources:
Focus on the Family President Jim Daly’s Podcast with Chloe Cole will air Monday, January 29.
Ohio’s Center for Christian Virtue
Do Not Fall for the ‘Affirm Them or They Will Die’ Lie
Four Brave Young Women File Lawsuits Alleging Harm from ‘Transgender’ Interventions
Ohio Governor Vetoes Bill Protecting Children and Women’s Sports
Ohio Governor’s Order Banning Transgender Surgeries is Too Little Too Late
#SaveGirlsSports – New Campaign Launched by Family Policy Alliance
Transgenderism and Minors: What Does the Research Really Show?
Image Credit: CCV
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