Gov. Mike DeWine didn't betray GOP base by vetoing Ohio's anti-trans bill. He saved lives.

No matter what you think about Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine’s politics, it’s hard to ignore that he’s a decent man, which is a rarity in politics.

He showed that decency on Friday when he bucked his party and vetoed a bill that would have banned gender-affirming care for minors and restrict how students can participate in athletics.

Now, there will be howls from his right flank about how a RINO has betrayed his base. But DeWine, at a news conference, said parents should make health care decisions for their children, not the state.

That’s an old-school Republican position, that government should butt out of the lives of its citizens.

In a polarized culture war age, however, politicians look for any issue they think will give them an advantage with their red-meat constituents.

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DeWine saw what House Bill 68 would do to Ohio families

Unfortunately, the LGBTQ+ community is now in the crosshairs, just like Black people, immigrants and other disenfranchised groups have been throughout our history.

It takes courage for a governor to say enough, and DeWine has done what others haven’t had the guts to do.

Specifically, he didn’t listen to politicians who couldn't care less about what their callous bill would do to families. DeWine, instead, went to three hospitals to hear from people whom the law would impact.

“We’re dealing with children who are going through a challenging time, families that are going through a challenging time,” he told The Associated Press. “I want, the best I can, to get it right.”

He did and now it’s up to his gerrymandered, illegally rigged GOP supermajority to decide if they’ll override his veto.

They have only one calculation in deciding, and that’s the political cost in forcing through a bill that only appeals to a minority.

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For every person who cheers on the Big Walnut school board – its members are the ones who just banned the LGBTQ+ flag from district classrooms – there are 10 times as many people, I’d gather, from all ideologies who see this as simply another culture-war effort meant to divide.

That’s particularly insidious when you divide parents from their children and interfere with their health care. And this is a health care issue.

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Gender-affirming care is medical care

The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services calls gender-affirming care “a supportive form of healthcare. It consists of (various) services that may include medical, surgical, mental health, and non-medical services for transgender and nonbinary people.”

The department also said, “Research demonstrates that gender-affirming care improves the mental health and overall well-being of gender diverse children and adolescents.”

And the hormone therapy that the bill wanted to block has another important use. Hormone therapy is used to treat precocious puberty, where girls as young as 8 develop breasts. Developing too quickly can lead to mental health issues, research shows.

DeWine listened in a way his GOP colleagues did not – with care and without politics.

Maybe now Republicans will listen to another one of their own.

In touting his Parents' Bill of Rights, state Rep. D.J. Swearingen, R-Huron, said in a news release, “This important legislation acknowledges the fundamental role that parents play in the lives of their children. We have a responsibility to support and protect the irreplaceable position that only parents can have in their kids’ lives.”

See, how hard is that? “Protect the irreplaceable position that only parents can have in their kids’ lives.” 

That’s what DeWine did.

Good job, Governor.

Ray Marcano is a longtime journalist with writing and editing experience at some of the country's largest media brands. He is frequent contributor to The Columbus Dispatch, where this column first published.

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This article originally appeared on The Columbus Dispatch: DeWine vetoed Ohio anti-trans bill, saving lives – and parents' rights