TOPEKA, Kan. The governor of Kansas on Friday vetoed a proposed ban on gender-affirming care for minors, a measure to require more reporting from abortion providers and what she called a “vague” bill that would make it a crime to coerce someone to have an abortion.
Democratic Gov. Laura Kelly’s actions have created a series of confrontations with the Republican-majority Legislature over these issues. The measures appeared to have the two-thirds majorities needed in both chambers to override the vetoes, but the success of GOP leaders depends on how many lawmakers are absent on a given day, especially in the House.
The two-term, term-limited governor is a strong supporter of abortion and LGBTQ+ rights. Republicans control the Legislature and have joined other Republican lawmakers in the US to roll back transgender rights.
But Kansas has been an outlier on abortion among states with Republican legislatures because the Kansas Supreme Court declared in 2019 that the state constitution protects the right to abortion, and a state-level vote in August 2022 decisively affirmed this position.
“Voters do not want politicians to come between doctors and their patients by interfering in private medical decisions,” Kelly wrote in his veto message on the abortion reporting bill.
Kelly allowed a GOP proposal on a social issue highlighted by Republicans across the U.S. to become law without his signature. Starting July 1, porn sites will be required to verify that visitors to Kansas are adults. Kansas will follow Texas and some other states, despite some concerns about privacy and the breadth of the law’s application.
In rejecting an attempt to have Kansas join at least 24 other states in banning or restricting gender-affirming care for minors, Kelly argued that a ban “tramples on parental rights” and targets “a small group.” .
“If the Legislature paid as much attention to the other 99.8% of students, we would have the best schools in the world,” she wrote.
The Kansas bill against gender-affirming care would ban surgeries, hormone treatments and puberty blockers, limiting care for minors to therapy.
“I hope this is the end of it, at least for this year, and that they don’t decide to waste anyone’s time anymore,” said Jenna Bellemere, a transgender student at the University of Kansas, after learning of the ban.
The bill would also require the state to revoke the licenses of any doctors who violate the ban and prohibit recipients of state funds for treating children or state employees who work with children from advocating gender-affirming care for them. It would prohibit the use of state dollars and property for such care, which restricts the University of Kansas Medical Center in Kansas City, Kansas.
Supporters of the bill argue that the ban will protect children from experimental, possibly dangerous and potentially permanent treatments. They cited the recent decision by England’s National Health Service to no longer routinely cover these treatments. Senate President Ty Masterson, a Wichita-area Republican, said of Kelly: “The radical left controls his veto pen.”
“Laura Kelly will certainly find herself on the wrong side of history with her reckless veto of this common-sense protection for Kansas minors,” said Kansas House Speaker Dan Hawkins, a Republican from Wichita.
But the US states’ bans go against the recommendations of leading American health groups, including the American Medical Association and the American Academy of Pediatrics. Additionally, many medical professionals say that providing this care makes transgender children less prone to depression or suicidal thoughts.
Last year, Republican lawmakers overrode Kelly’s vetoes to ban transgender girls and women from middle school, high school and college women’s sports teams and end the state’s legal recognition of transgender people’s gender identities. Because of this latest law, Kansas no longer allows transgender people to change the gender listing on their driver’s licenses or birth certificates.
Republican lawmakers have also continued to push for new abortion laws despite the August 2022 vote, arguing that voters still support “reasonable” regulations and support for pregnant women and new mothers.
“Once again, Governor ‘Coercion Kelly’ has shown how radical she is when it comes to abortion, without basic compassion for the women who are pushed or even trafficked into abortion,” Danielle Underwood, spokeswoman for Kansans for Life, the state’s most influential anti-abortion group, the abortion group said in a statement.
The anti-coercion bill would punish anyone convicted of making a physical or financial threat against a woman or girl to pressure her into having an abortion with up to a year in prison or a fine of up to $10,000. In his veto message, Kelly noted that it is already a crime to threaten another person.
Critics said the text is written broadly enough that it could apply to a spouse threatening divorce or a live-in boyfriend who threatens to leave unless his partner has an abortion.
The bill would require providers to ask their patients why they want to terminate a pregnancy and report the information to the state health department. Kelly and other critics say it is invasive and unnecessary, but supporters argue the state needs better data on why women and girls have abortions to help shape policy.
“These stigmatizing bills are not designed to improve the health and well-being of Kansans,” said Emily Wales, president and CEO of Planned Parenthood Great Plains, which operates three clinics that provide abortions in Kansas. .”
This story originally appeared on ABCNews.go.com read the full story
