OH governor signs 'emergency' executive order banning identity-driven surgeries for minors after vetoing similar bill

The following quote may be attributed to Alliance Defending Freedom Senior Counsel Matt Sharp, director of the ADF Center for Legislative Advocacy, regarding Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine’s signing of an “emergency” executive order to ban identity-driven surgeries for children after vetoing H.B. 68, the Saving Ohio Adolescents from Experimentation Act, last week. The executive order does not protect children from dangerous, experimental puberty blockers and cross-sex hormones and does nothing to safeguard fairness on the playing field for female athletes:

“Gov. DeWine’s ‘emergency’ executive order blatantly fails to protect Ohio’s children. Let’s be crystal clear: growing evidence shows that the long-term use of puberty blockers and cross-sex hormones hurts a child’s physical, emotional, and psychological development in ways that we still don’t understand. These dangerous, experimental drugs put kids on a one-way street to surgical procedures and a lifetime of consequences. That is why Europe is reversing course on using blockers and hormones and instead prioritizing counseling. The governor’s move also fails to address the ongoing issue of males competing in women’s sports, depriving female athletes in Ohio of opportunities they have worked their whole lives to achieve. We urge the Ohio Legislature to put the state’s children, women, and families first and swiftly override the governor’s misguided veto of H.B. 68.”

Alliance Defending Freedom is an alliance-building, non-profit legal organization committed to protecting religious freedom, free speech, parental rights, and the sanctity of life.

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