There Needs To Be A Veto Session, And Now There Will Be One

By now you know all about the final round of vetoes from Louisiana’s outgoing, lame-duck Democrat governor John Bel Edwards – the most egregious of which being that he did what he said he’d do and vetoed HB 648, the bill that would ban pediatric sex-changes and chemical castration of minor children in Louisiana.

The way Sara Cline of the Associated Press wrote this up, Edwards was standing for mom, apple pie, the rule of law and the American dream…

Louisiana’s culture divide over LGBTQ+-related legislation echoes what has been seen in GOP-led statehouses across the country. Bills targeting transgender people have topped conservative agendas, and LGBTQ+ advocates say a dangerous and blatant attack is happening on their community. This year alone, more than 525 anti-LGBTQ+ bills were introduced in 41 states, according to data collected by the Human Rights Campaign, a gay rights organization.

During the waning days of Louisiana’s legislative session, lawmakers passed a series of controversial bills: a ban on gender-affirming medical care for transgender minors that includes puberty-blockers, hormone treatment and surgery; a “Don’t Say Gay” bill that broadly bars teachers from discussing gender identity and sexual orientation in public school classrooms; and a measure requiring public school teachers to use the pronouns and names that align with what students were assigned at birth. Edwards vetoed all three bills.

Edwards — who is in his final six months of office, unable to seek reelection this year due to consecutive term limits — has repeatedly described the bills as wrong, divisive and targeting a vulnerable group of people.

And this is where it gets really fun…

Marked by misinformation, religious arguments and hours of emotional testimony from the LGBTQ+ community, one of the most discussed bills was the ban on gender-affirming care — something that has been available in the United States for more than a decade and is endorsed by major medical associations. At one point, the bill was presumed dead after a veteran Republican lawmaker cast a tie-breaking vote to kill the bill. However, amid mounting pressure from Louisiana Attorney General Jeff Landry, who is a GOP gubernatorial frontrunner, and the Republican Party of Louisiana, the bill was resurrected and passed.

At least 20 states, including all three bordering Louisiana, have enacted laws restricting or banning gender-affirming medical care for transgender minors. Most of those states face lawsuits.

A federal judge struck down Arkansas’ ban as unconstitutional, and federal judges have temporarily blocked bans in Alabama, Indiana, Kentucky and Tennessee. Oklahoma has agreed to not enforce its ban while opponents seek a temporary court order blocking it. A federal judge has blocked Florida from enforcing its ban on three children who have challenged the law.

It’s amazing how an AP piece reads like a message board post from Democratic Underground and nobody seems to bat an eye. A bunch of the TV stations in the state ran this drivel on their websites.

Never once in that AP article did Cline mention that the bill passed by a 71-24 margin in the House and 29-10 in the Senate, just one vote shy in both houses of a 3-to-1 margin for passage, and with bipartisan support. It clearly represents the will of the people in this state.

But of course, the leftist mindset of Sara Cline is what emanates from the governor’s mansion. It’s completely out of touch with the people of this state and it’s a reason why Louisiana is hemorrhaging population – people don’t want to live in a blue state, and Edwards governs Louisiana as though it’s Illinois.

The HB 648 veto is one of more than a dozen acts by Edwards in the past week flouting the will of the people of Louisiana. There should have been a veto override session already called in the Louisiana legislature, but the prevailing sentiment had been that one wouldn’t be forthcoming.

Well, that’s probably no longer true. Edwards has now turned HB 648 into a crucible for legislative re-election efforts. Now attendance at the veto override session is mandatory so that all the votes to ban child mutilation can be counted, and anyone not present will pay the price.

But for HB 648, there was the chance to just let things slide and move on to this fall’s elections.

Not any more.

And that’s just fine, because the voters will now get to see their elected representatives be counted. John Bel Edwards and his party won’t likely profit from that fact.