The Ohio Senate has voted overwhelmingly to approve the Ohio Saving Adolescents from Experimentation (SAFE) Act (House Bill 68). The multi-faceted bill would ban surgical sex procedures and other treatments on minors, while also banning boys from participating in girls' and women's sports. HB 68 was amended to include the Save Women's Sports Act (House Bill 6).
Aaron Baer, president of the Center for Christian Virtue in Ohio, greets the news with joy.
"You know this is an incredible day for Ohio," he tells AFN, "but especially so for our children who are being targeted by children's hospitals – and the woke Left, really – for sterilization by these gender clinics."
He said it's also a great day for girls in Ohio to make sure their competitions are fair. That echoes comments by State Rep. Jena Powell last year favoring the Save Women's Sports Act.
"All that girls are asking for is a fair shot, and to be given the chance to play and win by the rules in the sports that they love," Powell stated. "That opportunity is being ripped from them by biological males."
PBS reports H.B. 68 now goes back to the GOP-majority state House, where it will go through amendment agreements. Its last stop will be the desk of Republican Gov. Mike DeWine. The governor has previously expressed doubts about the sports restrictions, says PBS; so, it remains to be seen if he will sign it into law. He has 10 business days to either sign or veto the bill.
Baer is hopeful supporters of the legislation will not cave. "… With bills like this, when the attacks from the media come, what we've seen is that when lawmakers and Christians hold fast and stand on truth and don't waiver, it is possible.
"This was a three-year journey to get this bill done," he adds. "But because of the leadership of people like Representative Gary Click and Senator Kristina Roegner and Representative Jena Powell, we were able to get this bill through the General Assembly."
The entire bill can be read here.
