Kansas Senate set to advance ban on gender-affirming care for minors
TOPEKA (KSNT)- The Kansas Senate is set to pass a bill banning gender-affirming care for minors on Tuesday.
The legislation was tacked on to another bill that already passed the House, during committee meetings. If the bill passes, it will go back to the House for approval.
"It gives that opportunity for someone who had that treatment and really didn't feel like they were given accurate information about what to expect... what to anticipate... it does allow for that legal recourse," Sen. Molly Baumgardner, a Republican from Louisburg, told Kansas Capitol Bureau in an interview.
The bill would prohibit physicians from providing gender reassignment services to minors. Baumgardner said this may also include pharmaceutical treatment for gender change.
The bill would allow an individual who received gender reassignment surgery as a child to bring a civil cause of action against the person who performed the surgery. It would also take away a physician's license for performing gender reassignment surgery on a minor.
The legislation is now included in House Bill 2263, which allows for trained pharmacy technicians to continue distributing vaccines in the state, even after a federal law expires. The original bill passed the House with bipartisan support.
However, democrats say they can't get behind the new version of the bill, which includes a ban on gender affirming care.
"If parents have been involved in making any kind of decision about their child under the age of 18, this bill does not allow it. Also, this bill is overreaching in that it could remove a doctor's license," said Sen. Pat Pettey, D-Kansas City.