Kansas Republicans on Tuesday passed a bill banning irreversible transgender medical procedures on minors, overriding a veto from Democratic Governor Laura Kelly.
Republicans voted 31-9 in the state Senate and 85-34 in the state House to pass the “Help Not Harm Act,” which blocks doctors from performing transgender surgeries on minors or putting them on cross-sex hormones and puberty blockers. The move comes after Republicans failed to override Kelly’s veto of a similar measure last year.
“Today, we sign the Help Not Harm Act in honor of the children who Governor Kelly failed to protect with her repeated vetoes of this sensible legislation,” Senate President Ty Masterson and House Speaker Dan Hawkins said in a joint statement. “With help from Kansas voters last fall, we were able to override her veto and protect Kansas children from these harmful, irreversible, and experimental gender-reassignment surgeries and medicines. We are so thankful to everyone who made this victory for common-sense possible.”
Great news! Following our vote in the Senate, the House successfully overrode the governor’s veto of the Help Not Harm Act, and it is now law! Speaker @DanHawkinsKS and I made it official just moments ago by signing the bill. #ksleg pic.twitter.com/QOMM9F63fk
— Kansas Senate President Ty Masterson (@sentymasterson) February 18, 2025
The legislation includes an avenue for both minors and parents who were harmed by transgender procedures to bring civil action against a doctor who violates the new law. The harmed individual could be eligible for punitive damages and injunctive relief. Doctors who violate the law could be subject to professional discipline and lose their medical license.
The law will also take steps to block state officials and state money from going toward promoting the “social transition” of a minor.
“A state employee whose official duties include the care of children shall not, while engaged in those official duties, promote the use of social transitioning or provide or promote medication or surgery,” the text of the legislation says.
The legislation was opposed by every Democrat in the Senate and House, alongside Republican Rep. Mark Schreiber.
During debate on the bill, Democratic Sen. Cindy Holscher compared transgender procedures to getting glasses and contacts or dyeing one’s hair.
Data compiled by Do No Harm, a nonprofit that advocates against transgender medical procedures, shows that from 2019 to 2023, there were 22 transgender surgery patients and 71 hormone and puberty blocker patients in Kansas.
U.S. Senator Roger Marshall (R-KS), who has introduced legislation in the U.S. Senate to ban the procedures nationwide on children, praised the Republican-led legislature.
“Despite Kansas Governor Laura Kelly’s best efforts, the mutilation and sterilization of minors will not happen in Kansas,” he said. “Praise God!”
President Donald Trump issued an executive order in January banning the federal government from funding or supporting transgender procedures on children.
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Kansas Republicans on Tuesday passed a bill banning irreversible transgender medical procedures on minors, overriding a veto from Democratic Governor Laura Kelly.
Republicans voted 31-9 in the state Senate and 85-34 in the state House to pass the “Help Not Harm Act,” which blocks doctors from performing transgender surgeries on minors or putting them on cross-sex hormones and puberty blockers. The move comes after Republicans failed to override Kelly’s veto of a similar measure last year.
“Today, we sign the Help Not Harm Act in honor of the children who Governor Kelly failed to protect with her repeated vetoes of this sensible legislation,” Senate President Ty Masterson and House Speaker Dan Hawkins said in a joint statement. “With help from Kansas voters last fall, we were able to override her veto and protect Kansas children from these harmful, irreversible, and experimental gender-reassignment surgeries and medicines. We are so thankful to everyone who made this victory for common-sense possible.”
Great news! Following our vote in the Senate, the House successfully overrode the governor’s veto of the Help Not Harm Act, and it is now law! Speaker @DanHawkinsKS and I made it official just moments ago by signing the bill. #ksleg pic.twitter.com/QOMM9F63fk
— Kansas Senate President Ty Masterson (@sentymasterson) February 18, 2025
The legislation includes an avenue for both minors and parents who were harmed by transgender procedures to bring civil action against a doctor who violates the new law. The harmed individual could be eligible for punitive damages and injunctive relief. Doctors who violate the law could be subject to professional discipline and lose their medical license.
The law will also take steps to block state officials and state money from going toward promoting the “social transition” of a minor.
“A state employee whose official duties include the care of children shall not, while engaged in those official duties, promote the use of social transitioning or provide or promote medication or surgery,” the text of the legislation says.
The legislation was opposed by every Democrat in the Senate and House, alongside Republican Rep. Mark Schreiber.
During debate on the bill, Democratic Sen. Cindy Holscher compared transgender procedures to getting glasses and contacts or dyeing one’s hair.
Data compiled by Do No Harm, a nonprofit that advocates against transgender medical procedures, shows that from 2019 to 2023, there were 22 transgender surgery patients and 71 hormone and puberty blocker patients in Kansas.
U.S. Senator Roger Marshall (R-KS), who has introduced legislation in the U.S. Senate to ban the procedures nationwide on children, praised the Republican-led legislature.
“Despite Kansas Governor Laura Kelly’s best efforts, the mutilation and sterilization of minors will not happen in Kansas,” he said. “Praise God!”
President Donald Trump issued an executive order in January banning the federal government from funding or supporting transgender procedures on children.
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