Under the new law, physicians are prohibited from performing gender-transition surgeries, such as mastectomies and hysterectomies, on kids in statewide hospitals and health-care facilities.

“A week has gone by, and I still feel just as firmly as I did that day,” DeWine said at a press conference Friday, defending his decision to veto the broader ban. “I believe the parents, not the government, should be making these crucial decisions for their children.”

However, GOP presidential candidates and conservative activists condemned DeWine’s veto and urged the Republican-dominated Ohio legislature to override it, National Review reported.

“The Ohio legislature should override the veto done by Trump-endorsed Gov. DeWine. I’ve signed both of these bills — and I was right to do so,” DeWine wrote on X.

“Girls should be able to compete with fairness and integrity in sports. And these procedures are irreversible and should not be allowed, period.”

On Truth Social, Trump contended that DeWine had “fallen to the Radical Left.”

“What was he thinking,” Trump said. “The bill would have stopped child mutilation and prevented men from playing in women’s sports. The legislature will hopefully overturn it. Do it FAST!!”

Former college swimmer Riley Gaines also criticized DeWine for taking too long to veto the bill, which had been on his desk since December 15 after it passed the GOP legislature.

As part of the veto, DeWine joined several Republican governors who have averted the transgender issue, including former Arkansas governor Asa Hutchinson, who vetoed a ban on the gender medicalization of minors in 2021. Meanwhile, Utah Governor Spencer Cox and Indiana Governor Eric Holcomb rejected their states’ trans-athlete bills in 2022.