Gender-affirming care ban heads to Kansas Gov.; Can GOP override potential veto?

Rebekah Chung
·2 min read
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Correction: The House voted 82-39 to approve a conference committee report, before the Senate’s vote on Wednesday. See updates to vote count in article below.

TOPEKA (KSNT)- The Kansas Senate has voted to approve a conference committee report for a bill banning gender-affirming care for minors. The Senate voted 27-13 to approve the plan today, forwarding it to the Governor’s desk.

In addition to banning doctors from providing gender transition treatments to minors, the bill would also allow for a “civil cause of action” against doctors providing treatments. Under the plan, doctors could also lose their license, if they perform any treatments listed in the bill.

“The gender-affirming care ban passed by Republican politicians on Wednesday places political gain at the expense of Kansas’s most vulnerable children,’ Kansas Senate Democratic Leader Dinah Sykes said in a statement. “Access to gender-affirming care is critical for transgender youth to live their lives fully. Their decision to ban medically necessary, safe, effective healthcare is going to cost Kansas kids their lives.”

Kansas Governor Laura Kelly has vetoed similar measures in the past.

“Time and time again, Kansans have made it very clear that they do not want politicians infringing on their right to determine what healthcare is best for them,” Sykes said. “Republican leadership never listened, and now Kansas children and parents will face the consequences.”

Wednesday’s vote indicates that the Senate has the number of votes needed to override a veto if one comes down.

The House voted 82-39 to adopt the conference committee report earlier in the day. That’s two votes shy from the 84 votes needed to override a veto in the House. However, two Republicans were also absent from the floor at the time of the vote.

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