Democratic Gov. Laura Kelly vetoed the proposed ban, and top Republicans anticipated Friday that the GOP-controlled Legislature will attempt to override her action before lawmakers adjourn for the year Tuesday. Their bill appeared to have the two-thirds majorities needed in both chambers to override a veto when it passed last month, but that could depend on all Republicans being present and none of them switching.
Supporters of the bill said the additional provision is designed to ensure that the banned care — puberty blockers, hormone treatments and surgery — isn't still promoted with tax dollars or other state resources.
Other provisions of the proposed ban would prevent gender-manipulation procedures from occurring on state property and prohibit groups receiving state funds from advocating medications or surgery to treat a child whose gender identity differs from their sex assigned at birth.
Brittany Jones, an attorney and policy director for the conservative Kansas Family Voice, said courts have consistently ruled that a state “has the right to direct what is being done with its funds.”
“This does not block any child from socially transitioning, but it cannot be at the behest of a government entity,” she said in an email.
In statehouses across the U.S., Republicans have promoted restrictions on gender-manipulation procedures by portraying it as experimental and the potential source of long-term medical problems.
Backers of the Kansas proposal have repeatedly pointed to the National Health Service of England's recent decision to stop prescribing puberty blockers as a routine treatment for minors who claim they want to change genders.
“Obviously, we believe in our heart of hearts that they shouldn’t be steering students toward that sort of thing, that they should be looking at all alternative counseling and things of that nature,” said state Sen. Mike Thompson, a conservative Kansas City-area Republican.
