Republicans in Kansas “stand ready” to override their governor after she vetoed legislation that would have prohibited taxpayer-funded transgender experimentation on children and given those harmed by the radical practice a civil cause for action.
After the bill passed the Republican-controlled state House and Senate with flying colors, Democrat Gov. Laura Kelly shot it down on Friday, wrongly claiming the legislation “tramples parental rights.”
“This divisive legislation targets a small group of Kansans by placing government mandates on them and dictating to parents how to best raise and care for their children,” Kelly said in a statement. “I do not believe that is a conservative value, and it’s certainly not a Kansas value.”
Kelly claimed the mutilative and sterilizing procedures, which often cause harrowing, life-threatening consequences to minors, amount to “medical care” that shouldn’t be subject to interference from the state. Yet the growing number of children who undergo social or physical “transitions,” such as adopting false pronouns, cutting off their healthy breasts or genitalia, or taking sterilizing drugs, suffer irreversible damage to their bodies and minds.
An independent review published in the United Kingdom last week found “no good evidence” to support transgender medical interventions for children. One of its biggest bombshell admissions was that many kids struggling with the realities of their sex grow out of that mental conflict.
The same day Kelly vetoed protections for transgender-identifying minors, she also vetoed a bill that would deregulate sugaring, “a hair removal technique that may be performed on minors,” on the grounds that it “could lead to safety and sanitation problems.”
“We have a responsibility to protect Kansans — and this deregulation would threaten the health and safety of Kansans — particularly our children,” Kelly said of the temporary body hair removal process.
Legislators need a two-thirds majority in both chambers to quash Kelly’s rejection of their bill aimed at protecting children from radical gender ideology. Kansas Speaker of the House Dan Hawkins announced Friday that under his leadership, state representatives are prepared to do just that to “protect vulnerable Kansas kids.”
“Laura Kelly will most surely find herself on the wrong side of history with her reckless veto of this common-sense protection for Kansas minors,” he said in a statement shortly after Kelly’s veto.
Republican Senate President Ty Masterson, who previously said, “Radical transgender ideology and the mutilation of minors is not legal nor welcome in Kansas,” also hinted at action after telling reporters that “the radical left controls her veto pen.”
Republican legislators first rebuked Kelly for her position on transgenderism in 2022 when they voted to override her veto on a law that banned males from infiltrating female sports teams. Ahead of her 2022 gubernatorial election, Kelly flip-flopped on the sports question as she tried to sell herself to Kansas voters.
Jordan Boyd is a staff writer at The Federalist and co-producer of The Federalist Radio Hour. Her work has also been featured in The Daily Wire, Fox News, and RealClearPolitics. Jordan graduated from Baylor University where she majored in political science and minored in journalism. Follow her on Twitter @jordanboydtx.
