Kansas governor vetoes ban on trans youth healthcare for a third time
Kansas governor Laura Kelly has struck down a bill attempting to ban trans youth healthcare. (Mark Reinstein/Corbis via Getty)
The governor of Kansas has again vetoed a bill that sought to end access to gender-affirming healthcare for transgender youngsters.
Democrat Laura Kelly, who has vetoed similar bills twice, and often opposed anti-trans legislation, rejected Senate Bill 63, also known as the Help Not Harm Act.
The bill sought to prevent healthcare professionals providing gender-affirming care, including puberty suppressants and hormone therapy, to anyone under the age of 18. The proposed legislation cleared the Republican-held house in a 83-35 vote, and the senate, which is also controlled by Republicans, by 32 votes to eight, last month.
“Right now, the legislature should be focused on ways to help Kansans cope with rising prices,” Kelly told ABC News. “That is the most important issue for Kansans, that is where my focus is.
“Infringing on parental rights is not appropriate, nor is it a Kansas value. As I’ve said before, it is not the job of politicians to stand between a parent and a child who needs medical care of any kind.
“This legislation will drive families, businesses and healthcare workers out of our state, stifling our economy and exacerbating our workforce shortage issue.”
Kansas senator Ty Masterson pledged that he and fellow Republicans would override the veto.
“The governor’s devotion to extreme left-wing ideology knows no bounds, vetoing a bipartisan bill that prevents the mutilation of minors. The senate stands firmly on the side of protecting Kansas children and will swiftly override her veto before the ink from her pen is dry,” he said.
Meanwhile, the leader of the Kansas House of Representatives, Chris Croft, described the veto as “reckless and senseless”.
And Republican US senator Roger Marshall said: “Yet again, putting her radical liberal ideology above the safety of Kansas kids. Child mutilation is not a parental right and should be criminal. I look forward to the legislature overriding this insane veto.”
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