Mike DeWine, the Republican governor of Ohio, passed an executive order on Friday banning several transgender surgeries from being performed on minors.
Just a week prior, DeWine vetoed House Bill 68, also known as the Save Adolescents from Experimentation Act, which banned the surgeries but also barred hormonal therapies and puberty blockers.
The latest order does not address hormonal therapies or puberty blockers.
Ohio Capital Journal noted that no children's hospital in the state currently performs gender-affirming surgery on patients under 18.
"This will ensure that surgeries of this type on minors can never happen in Ohio," DeWine said Friday morning during a press conference.
Alliance for Defending Freedom senior counsel Matt Sharp, who provided legislative testimony for Republicans during the drafting of HB 68, told the Washington Examiner that DeWine needs to go further.
"DeWine's efforts do not help Ohio's kids," Sharp emphasized. "They continue to represent the betrayal of what the legislature was trying to do."
He also criticized DeWine's position that going about blocking transgender surgeries via executive order creates a stronger case against likely legal challenges than the bill presented in the legislature.
HB 68 "represents the will of the people," Sharp said. "This is how we want our laws to be enacted. ... This is the best process where the Legislature fulfills its role, passing laws that protect the health and safety of its citizens, especially vulnerable children."
Elsewhere in DeWine's press conference surrounding the order, he pledged to take steps with the state's Department of Health to ensure the collection of non-identifying data of gender dysphoria cases.
Luca Cacciatore ✉
Luca Cacciatore, a Newsmax general assignment writer, is based in Arlington, Virginia, reporting on news and politics.
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