SB 150, which was passed by Kentucky lawmakers during this past legislative session was initially school focused, such as the use of preferred pronouns by students, using bathrooms based on gender assigned at birth and sexual education. A ban on gender-affirming care for trans youths was added.
This week, cases on similar legislation in Florida and Arkansas have been ruled unconstitutional. David Walls, the Executive Director of the Family Foundation in Kentucky believes the Commonwealth’s ban will stand up against legal battles.
“It’s never a good thing when a judge with a law background tries to put on the medical hat.” Walls said, “We’ve seen, you know, activists court decisions play out in the abortion context because of that. We’re about to be thankful and celebrate, you know the Dobbs decision with Roe being overturned and rolling that back. So, we recognize that judges get it wrong a lot of times. And we’re very confident that ultimately we’re going to end up in a place where this discredited scientific experiment is going to come to an end.”
Governor Andy Beshear vetoed SB 150, saying it “strips away the rights of parents.”
“What they took away are basic medical decisions for parents to be able to make. I believe that we all want to do what’s right for our children and that we should be able to make those decisions.” Beshear added, “And I think you are seeing that in these decisions around the country.”
The ACLU filed suit to block Kentucky’s ban on gender-affirming care for trans youths in the state.
