Kansas is close to banning gender-affirming care as former GOP holdouts come aboard

TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — Republican legislators in Kansas are close to banning gender-affirming care for minors over the Democratic governor’s expected veto after winning over previously skeptical GOP colleagues, fueling fears that success will encourage further attempts to roll back transgender rights.

The Republican-controlled state Senate is expected to approve a bill Thursday that would bar health care providers from treating a child’s gender dysphoria with puberty blockers, hormone treatments and surgery and strip doctors who violate the ban of their licenses. The bill already passed the GOP-controlled House on Wednesday, so the Senate’s approval would send it to Gov. Laura Kelly.

At least 23 other states with Republican legislatures have restricted or banned gender-affirming care for minors. Kansas lawmakers attempted to pass a ban last year, but couldn’t muster the two-thirds majorities to override Kelly’s veto. But now, at least a dozen Republicans who previously voted against it are changing suit.

“When I was out and about last summer and last fall, and the number of emails and the number of calls that I had, I didn’t have a single one tell me to vote the same as I did last year,” state Rep. Susan Concannon, a Republican from western Kansas, said Thursday.

<bsp-list-loadmore data-module="" class=«PageListStandardB» data-gtm-region=«READ MORE» data-gtm-topic=«No Value» data-show-loadmore=«true» data-gtm-modulestyle=«List B»> <bsp-custom-headline custom-headline=«div»> READ MORE </bsp-custom-headline> <bsp-custom-headline custom-headline=«div»> Dan Skillings Jr. scores 25, Cincinnati beats short-handed No. 16 Kansas 72-52 in Big 12 Tournament </bsp-custom-headline> <bsp-custom-headline custom-headline=«div»> Kansas will