Governor Kelly Vetoes Ban On Gender-Affirming Care In Kansas

Kansas governor Laura Kelly moved to veto Senate Bill 63, which seeks to ban gender-affirming care for trans minors.

Governor Kelly released a statement on February 11 stating that, “the Legislature should be focused on ways to help Kansans cope with rising prices,” and that is what her main focus is. She also says, “it is not the job of politicians to stand between a parent and a child who needs medical care of any kind.” Kelly mentions in the statement that this bill would make a lot of physicians/healthcare workers, businesses, and families move out of Kansas which would make their workforce shortage worse and negatively effect their economy.

Senate Bill 63 would prevent healthcare providers from performing any gender-affirming care on any person under the age of 18. This includes administering puberty blockers, encouraging the patient to use new or different pronouns, and suggesting a change in clothing to be more affirming. The bill would halt funding to doctors and hospitals who provide this care, and it would threaten to revoke their medical licenses for “unprofessional conduct from physicians.”

Our current administration has shown us time and time again that they can move quickly and make decisions when they want to, not when it benefits the people they are meant to represent. Kansas Senate President Ty Masterson wrote in a post on social media that the legislature, “will swiftly override her veto before the ink from her pen is dry.” Masterson and other conservative lawmakers are making moves immediately to stop children from getting the care they need and deserve while U.S. residents all over the country have been begging and pleading for some help with the rising costs of groceries, the continued food safety issues, or the failing of infrastructure in the face of the climate crisis.

Thankfully, governor Kelly is not the only person who is standing up against Trump’s attack on trans youth. Even another republican, Kansas State Representative, Susan Concannon said that she previously voted for the bill but after reconsideration thinks that, “These decisions belong between the team of professionals and the parents. The youth need our help, not government overreach.” There was also an open letter from healthcare professionals to the Kansas Legislature opposing the ban and urging the legislature to sustain the veto.

Colorado’s own Attorney General Phil Weiser is part of a coalition with 14 other states who condemn Trump’s executive order against gender-affirming care and will continue to pursue legal action against any future unconstitutional acts. Judge Brendan Abell Hurson from the district court of Maryland also placed a temporary block on the executive order. While the republicans outnumber the democrats and could override Kelly’s veto, they were unable to ban gender-affirming care in Kansas the last time they tried.