Former President Trump joined the growing list of conservatives criticizing Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine for vetoing the Save Adolescents from Experimentation (SAFE) Act.
The measure, which passed the Republican-controlled legislature, bans sex change surgery for minors and blocks biological boys and men from competing in female sports.
"Were I to sign Substitute House Bill 68 or were Substitute House Bill 68 to become law, Ohio would be saying that the State, that the government, knows what is best medically for a child rather than the two people who love that child the most, the parents," DeWine said, explaining his veto.
"While there are rare times in the law, in other circumstances, where the State overrules the medical decisions made by the parents, I can think of no example where this is done not only against the decision of the parents, but also against the medical judgment of the treating physician and the treating team of medical experts," he continued.
The Republican governor argued his decision is about “protecting human life,” as he recalled how “many parents have told me that their child would be dead today if they had not received the treatment they received from an Ohio children’s hospital.” DeWine claims to have heard the same message from “grown adults” who said they would’ve committed suicide if not for the surgery.
According to his statement, the governor is in agreement with the General Assembly that transgender surgery should not be performed on those under 18 years old, and said he is “directing our agencies to draft rules to ban this practice in Ohio.”
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Trump saw DeWine’s decision as an indication that the Republican has “fallen to the Radical Left.”
“No wonder he gets loudly booed in Ohio every time I introduce him at Rallies, but I won’t be introducing him any more. I’m finished with this ‘stiff,’” the 45th president said on Truth Social. “What was he thinking. The bill would have stopped child mutilation, and prevented men from playing in women’s sports. Legislature will hopefully overturn. Do it FAST!!!”
TRUMP ON MIKE DEWINE: He as "fallen to the radical left. No wonder he gets loudly booed in Ohio every time I introduce him at rallies, but I won't be introducing him any more... Legislature will hopefully overturn [the veto]. Do it fast." pic.twitter.com/T1reKEv44v
— Election Wizard (@ElectionWiz) December 30, 2023
In a press conference on Friday, DeWine noted how controversial the topic has become.
“These are truly complex issues, and reasonable people draw vastly different conclusions,” he said. “This bill would impact a very small number of Ohio’s children, but for those children who face gender dysphoria, and for their families, the consequences of this could not be more profound.”
In addition to the many conservative commentators who criticized DeWine for the veto, “detransitioner” Chloe Cole spoke out against the governor’s decision and disagreed with the suicide “lie,” which was also one told to her parents.
"They were told that the decision was either going to be between one [of] two things, either having a very suicidal and eventually dead daughter or a living transgender son - but that is not true,” she explained on Fox News. “These children are not committing suicide because they were born in the wrong body. This is an entirely psychological issue and these children are not getting the help that they need.”
Cole continued, “They need psychiatric help. They need to know that they're perfect in the bodies that they were born with. If he [DeWine] truly believes in his heart that perfectly healthy children can be born wrong, that they need to be corrected, I think he should be expelled from office.”
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