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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ABOUT Matt Sharp
Matt Sharp serves as senior counsel with Alliance Defending Freedom, where he is the director of the Center for Public Policy. In this role, he leads ADF's team of policy experts as they craft legislation and advise government officials on policies that promote free speech, religious freedom, parental rights, and the sanctity of human life. Since joining ADF in 2010, Sharp has authored federal and state legislation, regularly provides testimony and legal analysis on how proposed legislation will impact constitutional freedoms, and advises governors, legislators, and state and national policy organizations on the importance of laws and policies that protect First Amendment rights. He has twice testified before the U.S. Congress on the importance of protecting free speech and religious liberty in federal law. Sharp also authored an amicus brief to the U.S. Supreme Court on behalf of nearly 9,000 students, parents, and community members asking the court to uphold students’ right to privacy against government intrusion. Sharp earned his J.D. in 2006 from the Vanderbilt University School of Law. A member of the bar in Georgia and Tennessee, he is also admitted to practice in several federal courts.