Veto SB63

Press Release Issued February 10, 2024

We, the Executive Team of the First Congressional District Democrats, condemn, in the strongest possible terms, the passage of SB 63 in the Kansas Legislature.

SB 63 criminalizes healthcare for trans youth for no reason. The Republican majority ignores medical expertise, local religious clergy, and parents of trans children in favor of out-of-state, biased, nonexperts. Consequently, the Republican majority makes its voice heard loud and clear. They seek to take away the freedom of Kansas parents and children to seek the healthcare that is best for them, and the freedom of Kansas doctors to provide that healthcare.

SB 63 is an incredibly hypocritical piece of legislation, coming from the party of “freedom.” Rather than accept the results of the August 2022 constitutional amendment, where Kansans overwhelmingly voted “NO,” the Republicans in Topeka decided they don't care what their constituents want, like lower property taxes and higher minimum wages.

Republicans in Topeka would rather focus on bullying trans children than deal with creating a budget for the state.

Attempts to criminalize the doctor’s office have strong roots in the logic of slavery, Jim Crow, and anti-Native American legal thought. Like Jim Crow and late 19th Century anti-Native American legislation, SB 63 seeks to erase trans children, their parents, and doctors, by marking them as criminals for seeking medical treatment. Republicans are using the exact same tactics authoritarians use to demonize random groups of people to distract their constituents from accountability.

The Democrats of the First Congressional District will stand up and protect our trans youth. We call on Governor Kelly to veto this legislation and for all Kansans to support her veto.

UPDATE: On February 11, Gov. Kelly’s office announced that she had Vetoed SB63 (per Kansas Reflector)

Cover photo of Transgender Pride Flag, in the public domain and shared at Wikimedia Commons