Overriding a veto from Democrat Gov. Andy Beshear, Kentucky lawmakers invalidated an executive order banning so-called “conversion therapy” for minors while making hormone therapy and transgender surgery coverage through Medicaid illegal.
Beshear signed an executive order in September 2024 barring certified or licensed practitioners from providing such counseling to minors. Practitioners could no longer help patients seeking to embrace their biological sex or “eliminate or reduce sexual or romantic attractions or feelings toward individuals of the same gender” under the order. State agencies were required to report any accounts of noncompliance to “the appropriate professional certification or licensing board within the Commonwealth for potential disciplinary action.”
In February, House Bill 495, primarily sponsored by Republican Rep. David Hale, was introduced. The bill protects practitioners by nullifying the executive order, legalizing such counseling for people with unwanted same-sex attraction or gender dysphoria, and adding a new ban on Medicaid paying for transgender procedures and hormone therapy.
After its passage, Beshear vetoed the measure on March 22. Beshear stated that conversion therapy has “no basis in medicine or science and causes significant long-term damage to our kids” and that the bill is “unconstitutional” and “promotes dangerous and discriminatory practice.”
However, the veto was nullified by the Kentucky General Assembly. The Kentucky House overruled the veto with a 78-20 vote along party lines. With a 31-6 vote, the state Senate also voted to override the veto. One Democrat, Sen. Robin Webb, voted in favor of the bill. The GOP holds 31 of 38 Senate seats while holding 80 of 100 House seats. The vote guarantees the bill will immediately become a law since it has an emergency clause.
The Family Foundation, a Christian policy organization defending Biblical values and fighting for Kentucky families, responded to the ruling.
“Win for free speech, religious liberty and for fiscal and moral sanity!” the organization posted on X. “Gov. Beshear’s veto on HB 495 has been overridden by both chambers. KY counselors and pastors can once again share the truth about God’s design for gender and sexuality. And our tax dollars will no longer pay for gender mutilation via Medicaid.”
Such “conversion therapy” bans are in effect in 23 states. In one of those states, Colorado, Kaley Chiles, a Christian therapist, is fighting for her right to help patients struggling with gender identity and unwanted sexual desires. Chile filed a petition with the Supreme Court after she lost an appeal at the 10th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals. The high court will hear her case later this year.
Photo: Alamy