Both the Kansas House and Senate approved a bill on Wednesday banning the use of sex change hormones and puberty blockers for minors. However, it’s anticipated that Democratic Governor Laura Kelly will veto the legislation.
Last year, the legislature approved a comparable bill, but Governor Kelly vetoed it as well.
Even with a Republican supermajority, the legislature couldn’t overturn Kelly’s veto on that bill, as well as another one aimed at protecting girls’ sports by preventing biological males from competing against them.
As reported by The Hill:
The state Senate on Wednesday passed this year’s bill, Senate Bill 233, with a veto-proof majority, while the House, which advanced the measure in an 82-39 party-line vote, fell slightly short. Two House Republicans that were absent for Wednesday’s vote — state Reps. Michael Houser and Samantha Poetter Parshall — have previously voted in favor of the legislation and would give the House the two-thirds majority needed to override a veto.
If Republicans succeed in overriding a likely veto from Kelly, Kansas will be the 25th state to ban gender-affirming care for minors, and the third to do so this year. Laws restricting access to care in at least four states are not currently being enforced because they are tied up in the courts.
“Today, the Senate took a firm stand in support of helping and not harming children by making it clear that radical transgender ideology and the mutilation of minors is not legal nor welcome in Kansas,” state Senate President Ty Masterson said in a statement after the vote.
It’s unclear whether Republicans can gather sufficient votes to override another veto.
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