Kansas GOP OKs ban on gender-affirming care, and Laura Kelly says flippers 'made a mistake'

Kansas lawmakers on Wednesday sent a bill banning gender-affirming care for transgender youths to Gov. Laura Kelly for a likely veto that is expected to be overridden.

After making a change to the legislation so that children wouldn't be kicked off medical treatment cold turkey, the Republican-controlled Legislature appears to have the votes to override a veto by the Democratic governor after about a dozen House Republicans and one Senate Republican flipped their votes from last year.

Kelly, whose Middle of the Road PAC raised nearly $1 million last year to use in the 2024 elections, sidestepped a question earlier this month about using the PAC to target Republicans who flipped.

"I'm just hoping that after a good night's sleep that some of those legislators who did flip their votes realize that they've made a mistake," Kelly said, "and that they need to come back where their moral core led them last year."

Republicans picked up two key votes

One key flipper is House health committee vice chair Rep. John Eplee, R-Atchison, who is a physician. He explained his change of heart during a committee meeting earlier this month.

"While I voted against this bill last year — a similar bill — after education and more learning and more knowledge on this, I think it's not unreasonable to do what this bill implies," Eplee said, "which is under age 18 to not allow surgery or hormone blockers because of the irreversibility, oftentimes, of those treatments."

He said his previous opposition was based in arguments on the doctor-patient relationship and the parent-child relationship.

"There are times when I think we are empowered to keep children under the age of 18 safe, whether it be for issues like this or other health issues, cigarettes, vaping or whatever," Eplee said. "We at the state need to intervene. So I have had a fundamental movement on this."

Another key flipper is Sen. Brenda Dietrich, R-Topeka.

"I've heard from Kansans in my district who overwhelmingly do not support children undergoing gender reassignment surgery," Dietrich said Wednesday. "This is a difficult vote for me; their anger regarding physicians and parents allowing surgeries on minors is palpable. I've always agreed with that position, but my concern in the past — which was not addressed until now — was the harm that would be caused from abruptly stopping the hormone piece."

"Negotiations took place in conference committee," she continued, appearing to hold back tears while explaining her vote, "and I apologize. This is a very hard vote for me. But because they were able to negotiate not stopping that therapy immediately and made some changes to allow for gradual reduction, I vote yes."

Quitting treatments cold turkey was a sticking point

The Legislature appeared poised to pass Senate Bill 233 earlier in March, but Republicans sent it to a conference committee to make a series of tweaks to solidify the supermajority votes needed to override a veto. The hangup was that the legislation originally mandated that transgender children quit their medical treatments cold turkey.

Eplee offered the amendment to insert a new section that "allows for a phase out, if you will, for those individuals that are currently under active treatment for transgender treatment."

"This amendment is brought simply to honor and assist those individuals that are already started the transitioning process, so to help them complete or figure out what to do within nine months," Eplee said.

The amendments made by Republicans over objections of Democrats give youths until the end of the calendar year.

Rep. Susan Ruiz, D-Shawnee, said the change "made a horrible bill even worse" and that families with transgender kids may choose to leave the state so they can continue receiving treatment.

"Maybe that's the point," she said. "Maybe many in this room don't really care, and that's what you want."

Ruiz said supporters of the bill are saying "that you know better than the parents."

Speaker Pro Tem Blake Carpenter, R-Derby, admonished her: "Do not impugn the motives of members."

"It's just fact," Ruiz responded.

Kelly, who spoke with reporters after a mental health advocacy day at the Statehouse, addressed the affect of anti-trans legislation on transgender youths.

"We've heard the experts in mental health, but also the kids themselves, talk about how stressful it is to be a trans kid," she said. "To be a kid who is going through that, and then add on top of that the adults in the room who are supposed to care about you, turning on you. It's very tough, and I know it adds to their stress and their family's stress."

Who flipped from last year bill on gender-affirming care?

Republicans didn't have the votes last session to override Kelly's veto of Senate Bill 26, which targeted gender-affirming care. The Senate was one vote short, which meant the House never took up the override, but it was presumed to be 12 votes short based off an earlier vote.

Senate Republicans picked up one vote to get to the 27 needed for a supermajority. House Republicans picked up the 12 votes they needed for SB 233 and have a clear path to the 84 votes needed for a supermajority. Republicans now need no supporters to flip and all supporters to show up — which could be a challenge with one House member who has been on an extended absence.

The flip-flops from last year were as follows:

• Sen. Brenda Dietrich, R-Topeka.

• Rep. Jesse Borjon, R-Topeka.

• Rep. Nathan Butler, R-Junction City.

• Rep. Susan Concannon, R-Beloit.

• Rep. Mike Dodson, R-Manhattan.

• Rep. John Eplee, R-Atchison.

• Rep. Dan Goddard, R-Parsons.

• Rep. Jim Minnix, R-Scott City.

• Rep. Sandy Pickert, R-Wichita.

• Rep. John Resman, R-Resman.

• Rep. Adam Smith, R-Weskan.

• Rep. Troy Waymaster, R-Bunker Hill.

Republicans also picked up a vote from Rep. Kyle McNorton, R-Topeka, who replaced Fred Patton after his resignation from the Legislature.

In the House, two Republicans sided with Democrats last year and this year: Reps. Mark Schreiber, R-Emporia, and David Younger, R-Ulysses. One Democrat sided with Republicans both last year and this year: Rep. Marvin Robinson, D-Kansas City.

In the Senate, Sens. John Doll, R-Garden City, and Carolyn McGinn, R-Sedgwick, voted with all Democrats in opposition.

Jason Alatidd is a Statehouse reporter for the Topeka Capital-Journal. He can be reached by email at jalatidd@gannett.com. Follow him on X @Jason_Alatidd.

This article originally appeared on Topeka Capital-Journal: Kansas GOP has the votes to ban gender-affirming care for trans kids