
Kansas lawmakers’ effort to override governor’s veto of gender-affirming care ban fails
CNN
Kansas’ state House on Monday failed to override Democratic Gov. Laura Kelly’s veto of a ban on gender-affirming care for minors, a result celebrated by transgender rights advocates.
Kansas’ state House on Monday failed to override Democratic Gov. Laura Kelly’s veto of a ban on gender-affirming care for minors, a result celebrated by transgender rights advocates. Kelly, who vetoed SB 233 earlier this month, applauded the state House’s vote to sustain her veto. “I am glad that bipartisan members of the legislature have stood firm in saying that divisive bills like House Substitute for Senate Bill 233 have no place in Kansas. The legislature’s decision to sustain my veto is a win for parental rights, Kansas families, and families looking to call our state home,” she said in a statement Monday night. Kansas’ Republican-controlled Senate on Monday night successfully voted 27-13 to override Kelly’s veto. But, with the Republican-controlled state House voting 82-43, proponents of the bill were just two votes shy of the two-thirds majority needed to enact the ban. CNN has reached out to state House Speaker Dan Hawkins and state Senate President Ty Masterson for comment. The measure would have banned gender-affirming care for trans and nonbinary youth in Kansas, including estrogen and testosterone hormone therapies, puberty blockers and surgeries — though surgical procedures are rarely performed on children.