Speaker Dan Hawkins's op-ed calls out Gov. Kelly for veto of 'Help Not Harm Act'

On Thursday, the National Review published an op-ed by Speaker Dan Hawkins, a Wichita Republican. His article, ‘Kansas Will Protect Children with No Help from a Hapless Governor’ goes after Democratic Gov. Laura Kelly for her veto of the ‘Help Not Harm Act’, a bill that protects children from dangerous gender transition services.

Gov. Kelly has regularly made comments about being “middle of the road,” however, according to Hawkins, this veto is proof that she is not.

“The governor’s recent veto of the Help Not Harm Act, which protects vulnerable Kansas kids from the life-altering effects of medicalized gender transition involving surgeries, hormones, and drugs, could be her most radical move yet,” Hawkins’s article reads. “As more nations, states, and medical organizations reverse course on this dangerous experimentation on children, her veto is the exact opposite of moderate leadership. It’s certainly nowhere near the middle of the road.”

Hawkins went onto point out recent events that go against Gov. Kelly’s narrative on the issue, highlighting the Cass Review. Hawkins notes that this is a report on the United Kingdom’s “medicalized gender-transition treatments for children” and that from the report it was found that the treatments are based on “remarkably weak evidence.”

It should be noted that a lot of left-wing extremists have denied or downplayed the findings of the report which looks at research on gender transition treatments for minors. A big issue that extremists have made is that the report has “too high of standards” when considering research. Instead of arguing why their studies have merit to meet such standards, some so-called “experts” have claimed that gold-standard research is “not always feasible.” However, the reason behind reviews like the Cass Report excluding certain studies is because studies need to meet the rigor of evidence-based medicine. Meaning, the studies left-wing activists use to push their narrative are considered poor quality studies.

Hawkins also notes from the Cass Review that “treatment guidelines by the World Professional Association of Transgender Healthcare (WPATH) ‘lack developmental rigor’ despite their wide influence.”

To add further context to this, a lot of people seem to think that WPATH is a medical organization, and they’re who a lot of extremists fall back on as a “medical group” but they’re not. They’re actually an advocacy group posing as a medical group. Not only that, but earlier this month, independent journalist Christina Buttons wrote an article diving into a citation cartel in gender medicine. A citation cartel is a network of researchers who artificially inflate their number of citations. By doing this, researchers strategically boost visibility and the perceived impact of their work, along with their own reputations and academic metrics. It’s a really interesting read that highlights just how corrupt advocacy organizations like WPATH are in order to have the influence they desire.

Hawkins goes on to note the growing number of countries and states that are turning their back on transitioning services for minors because “science and common sense demand a more holistic approach to the underlying mental-health conditions that often accompany gender confusion.”

According to Hawkins, the Help Not Harm Act will “protect at-risk kids by preventing medical providers from giving puberty blockers and cross-sex hormones and from performing genital surgeries on children.” He further states that “these invasive and irreversible treatments can lead to a lifetime of both physical- and mental-health complications to which children are incapable of meaningfully consenting.”

Hawkins also notes in his article that proponents of such services use a “slew of falsehoods” to “justify” and “promote” child endangerment to which Gov. Kelly believes in despite the facts.

“Protecting children from medicalized gender transition prevents suicide,” Hawkins wrote. “Trans activists claim the opposite by pointing to their own surveys, which purport to show suicide is rampant among children with gender confusion. However, psychologists have shown that these self-reported online surveys, besides being entirely non-randomized and unscientific, serve up predetermined results and broad assumptions to fit a desired narrative.”

Hawkins states that children receiving “medicalized gender transitions” aren’t receiving the help they actually need which is why suicide rates among them are so high. He noted the correlation of other mental-health and neurological disorders found among “children who think they are transgender” and further noted that “Kansas legislators were careful to preserve access to mental-health treatment in the Help Not Harm legislation for that reason.”

Hawkins goes into what research has found to support his claims and the devastating side effects of puberty blockers and cross-sex hormones.

“As state legislators, we protect Kansas children with age requirements in many circumstances,” Hawkins writes. “Kids cannot drive until they’re 16, use tanning beds until they’re 18, or buy alcohol or cigarettes until they reach 21. These things can cause harmful, irreversible outcomes for minors, so the state has placed age restrictions on access. Child-welfare laws and child-labor laws also exist to protect children. It’s hard to understand why hormones and surgeries that result in harmful and irreversible outcomes, such as sterilization, would be held to a different, lesser standard.”

Hawkins ends his article stating that Gov. Kelly has not only “abandoned the middle of the road,” but also “Kansas children and families” with her “reckless veto.”

The House originally voted 82-39 on this bill and the Senate voted 27-13. In order to override Gov. Kelly’s veto, a two-thirds majority in the House (84) and Senate (27) will be needed.

To read Hawkins’s full article, click here.