The Kansas Governor vetoes Help Not Harm, Abortion Coercion Act, and Abortion Reporting Act failing to protect Kansas kids & moms; while lacking the courage to take action on The Protecting Kids Online Act proving she’s not middle of the road.
Topeka, Kan.
April 12, 2024 – Kansas Governor Laura Kelly vetoed several bills on Kansas Family Voice’s Legislative Agenda: The Help Not Harm Act (S.B. 233), Abortion Coercion (H.B. 2436), and an update to the Abortion Reporting Act (H.B. 2749). At the same time, she is allowing The Protecting Kids Online Act (S.B. 394) to become law without her signature.
This is the second year in a row that she has vetoed Help Not Harm. The Help Not Harm Act ensures that minors cannot receive puberty blockers, cross sex hormones, or surgeries in an attempt to treat gender dysphoria. It includes a provision to allow children who are already on cross sex hormones time to wean off of those hormones. This bill has already passed in 22 states and been upheld by federal courts. It passed 27-13 in the Senate and 82-39 in the House with several members missing.
The Abortion Coercion Act and Abortion Reporting Act are simple common-sense laws. Everyone should agree that women should not be coerced into abortion, however, there is currently no law ensuring that individuals who coerce women can be prosecuted. H.B. 2436 will do just that. The Abortion Reporting Act simply updates our current Abortion Reporting law and ensures that reports are sent to the legislature in a timely manner. H.B. 2436 passed 27-11 in the Senate and 82-37 in the House. H.B. 2749 passed 27-13 in the Senate and 81-39 in the House.
The Protecting Kids Online Act, S.B. 394 protect kids online from materials that are harmful to them. The bill requires any website that knowingly hosts, shares, or distributes material that is harmful to minors and that material appears on 25% of the webpages viewed per month to verify that the viewers are over the age of 18. Eight other states have passed similar laws. S.B. 394 passed the Senate with bipartisan support 92-38. It passed the House 92-38 and the Senate 40-0.
Brittany Jones, Director of Policy and Engagement, Kansas Family Voice:
“Kansas Family Voice’s entire agenda this year was about protecting kids and helping moms. Governor Kelly has once again rejected both of those things. She has chosen ideology over protecting kids and ensuring moms are empowered to fight back against the abortion industry. We call on both chambers of the Legislature to work together to override all three of these vetoes. Kansas children deserve better than harmful experimentation and Kansas moms deserve better than the abortion & human trafficking industry. And she showed her cowardice by refusing to take action on the Protecting Kids Online Act. No matter your ideology, you should be able to support protecting children from pornography.
Though expected, we are disappointed that Governor Kelly once again vetoed Help Not Harm putting ideology over the wellbeing of children. Diverse voices are consistently speaking out against the harmful procedures. It is long past time that we protect Kansas kids from these harmful experiments. We call on our Legislature once again to step up and protect our children.
She has refused to take action on the Protecting Kids Online Act that has had large bipartisan support across the country and been signed by multiple Democratic governors. It shows just how out of touch she is with Kansans and how extreme she is even within her own party. Instead, she chose to side with the pornography industry who continues to lose in court. We are grateful for the legislators from both parties that are ensuring that this bill becomes law, no thanks to Governor Kelly. Pornography has become a scourge to our nation’s children. We are so thankful that so many groups and legislators who we may not agree with on other issues came together for Kansas children on S.B. 394.
We will continue to work to ensure that the Protecting Kids Online Act is enforced and that the vetoes of The Help Not Harm Act, The Abortion Reporting Act, and the Abortion Coercion Act are overridden because our Kansas children and moms deserve it.”
Media Contact: (785) 542-0220, media@kansasfamilyvoice.com
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Kansas Family Voice is a Christ-centered organization with a vision for a Kansas where God is honored, religious freedom flourishes, families thrive and life is cherished.
