Kansas House overrides governor veto on ‘Help Not Harm Act’

TOPEKA, Kan. (KWCH) - The Kansas House of Representatives narrowly met the threshold needed to override Kansas Governor Laura Kelly’s veto on a bill that includes banning gender-affirming care for minors.

Governor Laura Kelly vetoed Senate Bill 63, the “Help Not Harm Act” last Tuesday, Feb. 11. Exactly one week later, the House secured exactly the 84 votes it needed for a two-thirds majority ruling to override the veto. The vote to successfully overrule the governor was 84-35.

In January, the Senate approved the bill with 28 votes, enough for a veto-proof majority. The Republican leadership in the Kansas House issued the following statement following the successful veto override on the “Help Not Harm Act.”

“Today, Kansas House Republicans successfully overrode Governor Kelly’s reckless veto of the Help Not Harm Act- voting overwhelmingly in favor of protecting Kansas kids from the irreversible harms of experimental gender transition surgeries and medicines. Governor Kelly chose to side with the radical Left, but this override now ensures that the act will become law, bringing Kansas in line with multiple other states and nations that already protect vulnerable minors from the life-altering effects of medicalized gender transition interventions.”

Following her veto of the Senate Bill last week, Kelly had said that lawmakers in Kansas “should be focused on ways to help Kansans cope with rising prices” and that this is where her focus is. She said, “It is not the job of politicians to stand between a parent and a child who needs medical care of any kind.”

Kelly issued the following statement following the veto override.

“It is unfortunate that the first bill the Legislature sent me this session is focused on putting politicians between Kansans and their private medical decisions instead of prioritizing solutions to issues like rising prices and the cost of groceries, which would benefit everyone. This divisive bill will undoubtedly have ripple effects that harm Kansas families, our businesses, and our economy and intensify our workforce shortage issue. It is inappropriate that the Legislature dictate to parents how to best raise their children.”