(Feb. 29, 2024) – Today, the Senate Public Health and Welfare Committee, chaired by Senator Beverly Gossage (R-Eudora), held an informational hearing on House Bill 2791. The bill enacts the Forbidding Abuse of Child Transitions Act, restricts the use of state funds to promote gender transitions, prohibits health care professionals from treating children whose gender identity is inconsistent with the child's sex, authorizes a civil cause of action against health care professionals for providing such treatments, authorizes professional discipline against a physician who performs such treatment, prohibits professional liability insurance from covering damages for health care providers that provide gender transition treatment to children and adds violations of the act to the definition of unprofessional conduct for physicians and nurses. The hearing was informational as the bill has not yet passed the House chamber.
The committee heard from the following conferees:
- Chloe Kohl, an individual who formerly transitioned
- Pamela Garfield, Social Worker
- Jamie Reed, Former Missouri clinic worker
- Britany Jones, Kansas Family Voice
- Dr. Ivan Abdouch, Medical Doctor
The committee also heard from opponent testimony from:
- Iridescent Riffel, co-chair of Equality Kansas
- Reverend Caroline Dean, InterFaith Action
- D.C. Hiegert, ACLU of Kansas
- Cat Poland, Free Range Writer and Activist
- Amanda Mogoi, MSN, APRN, FNP-C
The House Health and Human Services Committee also held hearing on House Bill 2791. The committee heard from similar conferees in the House Health and Human Services Committee.