The Ohio House of Representatives voted on Wednesday to override Governor Mike DeWine’s veto of House Bill 68.
The final vote was 65-28.
House Bill 68, a combination of the Saving Ohio Adolescents from Experimentation (SAFE) Act and the Save Women’s Sports Act, would prevent doctors from providing minors with “gender-affirming” care as well as prevent biological males who identify as transgender from participating in girls’ and women’s sports.
DeWine vetoed the bill on December 29, 2023.
Ohio State Representative Gary Click (R-Vickery), the original sponsor of House Bill 68, applauded the House’s vote on Wednesday to override DeWine’s veto, calling it “yet another victory for women and children in Ohio.”
My official statement on the House's override of the Governor's veto on #HB68#SAFEAct #SaveWomensSports pic.twitter.com/BxnKDZJTX1
— Rep Gary Click 🇺🇸 💯👍 (@clickforohio) January 10, 2024
“It is hard to fathom that we live in a society that would tell children that they need drugs and scalpels to live their authentic lives or that treats women as second-class citizens in their own spaces. These are horrible, harmful, and hurtful messages for Ohio’s youth and it is remarkable that we would even need a law.to affirm these common-sense policies,” Click said. “With this vote, we are restoring the fundamental value that the rights of women ought to be protected in women’s spaces and children are once again entitled to grow up intact. Today, the Ohio House of Representatives has reaffirmed that we hold women and children at a premium in the state of Ohio.”
“We look forward to our colleagues in the Ohio Senate joining us soon and reaffirming these basic human rights for women and children in Ohio,” Click added.
Ohio Secretary of State Frank LaRose also applauded the vote to override the veto, saying, “We cannot, in good conscience, allow children to be subjected to irreversible medical procedures. And it is not safe or fair to allow boys to play girls’ sports. A majority of Ohioans agree with these common sense principles.”
Tom Zawistowski, president of We the People Convention, also celebrated the vote, saying, “This is how we protect our children and the rights of women and girls.”
“This is how we protect the children who are gender dysphoric from ineffective and unnecessary radical medical treatments and give them the mental health treatment they need and deserve. This is how we protect parents from being lied to and bullied by the left by giving them real choices for their children. This is how we defeat those who want to destroy our families and our society and our schools and our women’s sports,” Zawistowski added.
Meanwhile, the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) of Ohio condemned the vote, calling it a “crusade against transgender youth and their families.”
The Ohio Senate is scheduled to vote on the veto override on January 24. If the Senate passes the veto override, House Bill 68 will become law after 90 days.
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Kaitlin Housler is a reporter at The Ohio Star and The Star News Network. Follow Kaitlin on X / Twitter.
