Kansas Gov. Laura Kelly, a Democrat, vetoed a bill on Friday that would have protected vulnerable children from experimental, irreversible so-called “gender-affirming” care for minors.
Senate Bill 233 would ban hormone therapy, puberty blockers and sex reassignment surgery for people younger than 18. As Townhall has covered, many states have laws on the books protecting children from these services.
“This divisive legislation targets a small group of Kansans by placing government mandates on them and dictating to parents how to best raise and care for their children. I do not believe that is a conservative value, and it’s certainly not a Kansas value,” Kelly said in a statement, claiming that the law “tramples parental rights.”
“The last place that I would want to be as a politician is between a parent and a child who needed medical care of any kind. And, yet, that is exactly what this legislation does,” she added.
Carrie Rahfaldt, a spokeswoman for Kansas House Speaker Dan Hawkins, a Republican, told The Washington Post that the Senate will begin voting in a veto session beginning April 29.
On X, Hawkins wrote, “As we watch other states, nations, and organizations reverse course on these experimental procedures on children, Laura Kelly will most surely find herself on the wrong side of history with her reckless veto of this common-sense protection for Kansas minors.”
“House Republicans stand ready to override her veto to protect vulnerable Kansas kids,” he added.
“As we watch other states, nations, and organizations reverse course on these experimental procedures on children, Laura Kelly will most surely find herself on the wrong side of history with her reckless veto of this common-sense protection for Kansas minors. House #ksleg pic.twitter.com/I8DC6ZCwFj
— Dan Hawkins (@DanHawkinsKS) April 12, 2024
Last month, England sent shockwaves around the world when its National Health Service (NHS) announced that children will no longer be prescribed puberty blockers, which Townhall covered. Predictably, left-wing activists were outraged about the decision, as they are about any entity that prohibits children from “changing their gender” at a young age.
Shortly after, the NHS revealed that it would review all transgender treatments after a landmark report said that the evidence for allowing children and young people to change their gender is built on “shaky foundations.”