Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine signed an “emergency” executive order on Friday banning transgender surgeries for minors, just a week after vetoing a bill that would have banned a broader range of transgender-related medical treatments for minors.
The bill the Republican governor vetoed last week, known as House Bill 68, or the Saving Ohio Adolescents from Experimentation (SAFE) Act, would have banned medical professionals from performing gender reassignment surgeries or prescribing cross-sex hormones or puberty-blocking drugs to minors. At the time he issued the veto, Mr. DeWine likened the provisions of the bill to the state government superseding the will of parents in the state.