Ohio bans gender-affirming care and restricts transgender athletes...

[Jessica_Rose]

Ohio bans gender-affirming care and restricts transgender athletes despite GOP governor's veto

https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/politics/ohio-bans-gender-affirming-care-and-restricts-transgender-athletes-despite-gop-governor-s-veto/ar-BB1hcOsH?cvid=47c16171e4a8487db668edc9f6be63bb&ei=3

Story by By SAMANTHA HENDRICKSON (24 Jan 2024)

COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) — Ohio has banned gender-affirming care for minors and restricted transgender women's and girls' participation on sports teams, a move that has families of transgender children scrambling over how best to care for them.

The Republican-dominated Senate voted Wednesday to override GOP Gov. Mike DeWine's veto. The new law bans gender-affirming surgeries and hormone therapies, and restricts mental health care for transgender individuals under 18. The measure also bans transgender girls and women from girls and women's sports teams at both the K-12 and collegiate level.

The override cleared the chamber 24-8 mostly along party lines, save Sen. Nathan Manning, a Republican from Cuyahoga County who has consistently broken from his party on the issue.

Officials expect the law to take effect in roughly 90 days. The Republican-majority House had voted to override the veto earlier this month.

DeWine reiterated Wednesday that he vetoed the legislation — to the chagrin of his party — to protect parents and children from government overreach on medical decisions. But the first week of January, he signed an executive order banning gender-affirming surgeries for people under 18 despite medical professionals maintaining that such surgeries aren't happening in the state.