In win for transgender rights advocates, effort to enact Kansas trans health care ban fails
Kansas lawmakers fell short of overriding Gov. Laura Kelly on a measure that would have banned gender-affirming care for transgender youths, a win for trans rights advocates as states across the country pursue similar measures.
Senate Bill 26 would mandate the Board of Healing Arts revoke the medical license of any physician who is found to have performed the services.
It also would allow individuals to sue doctors who perform gender-affirming care if they regret the decision later in life, though the statute of limitations would be limited to the three-year window after an individual turns 21 years old.
Gender-affirming care encompasses a wide range of health care to support a person’s gender identity when it conflicts with their gender assigned at birth.
The LGBTQ community has argued that it can be a crucial way for making young transgender people feel supported, and the nation’s largest medical groups have said the treatments can be important in boosting the mental health of an otherwise vulnerable population.
"This bill removes the responsibilities of the parents to support their children in making those decisions that are in the best interests of them," said Sen. Pat Pettey, D-Kansas City. "For that reason, I find that this bill goes too far in our reaching out to take that place of parental responsibility, supporting their children and with the advice of their medical doctor."
The Kansas Senate fell short in overriding the veto after three GOP senators — Sens. Brenda Dietrich, R-Topeka, John Doll, R-Garden City, and Carolyn McGinn, R-Sedgwick — voted to sustain the veto.
Doll said he was concerned about the bill blocking the ability for doctors to provide hormone therapies if children have early-onset puberty or other conditions.
"This is a tough vote for me because, in theory, I like the bill," he said.
Proponents said they believed the measure was required, as minors were too young to make such significant health care decisions. While some surgeries are not reversible, many forms of hormone treatment and other therapies are.
"The Legislature has to be the last line of defense when parents have lost their way, when a health care system has lost its way," said Sen. Mark Steffen, R-Hutchison.
The Kansas Senate did vote to override Kelly on a sweeping bill that could require transgender individuals to use public facilities in almost every facet of society that align with their sex assigned at birth.
But their counterparts in the Kansas House adjourned before taking up what is expected to be a hotly contested override vote. They were to instead consider the measure Thursday morning.
The vote on Senate Bill 180 is anticipated to be razor-thin.
Republicans have a pathway to overriding Kelly's veto, though it rests on two Democratic lawmakers again voting in support of the measure. Three GOP members opposed the bill in a vote last month and one, Rep. Jesse Borjon, R-Topeka, said he was unlikely to change course.
More: These Kansas bills could endanger transgender inmates. Here's what prison officials say.
Overnight trip and jail requirements for transgender individuals enacted
Lawmakers also enacted a bill that would strictly define sex based on reproductive organs and apply them to county jails, a move that would effectively require inmates be held based on biological sex. The proposal could put county jails out of compliance with federal law.
The provision in Senate Bill 228 was included amid a series of noncontroversial items to modernize the state's jail statute, something that irked Democrats who said it wasn't needed.
"They’re looking around every corner for a culture war where there isn’t one," said Sen. Ethan Corson, D-Fairway.
The language mirrors SB 180 and Republicans said the bill was a common sense measure. It includes a number of broadly supported items, including removing the requirement that every county in the state of Kansas have a jail, even though 10 counties currently don't and instead contract with a neighbor.
Rep. Eric Smith, R-Burlington, said, "This statute is not going to put anyone into a mandatory space that is unsafe for them."
"When we bring them into the jail, we're going to find a safe space for them," he said. "We're not declaring it based on their genitalia. We're not declaring it based on their gender identity. It is based on their safety."
This article originally appeared on Topeka Capital-Journal: Enacting Kansas trans health care ban over Laura Kelly veto fails
