KY Legislature overrides veto, enacts protections for children, parental rights
The following quote may be attributed to Alliance Defending Freedom Senior Counsel Matt Sharp, director of the ADF Center for Legislative Advocacy, regarding the Kentucky Legislature’s override Wednesday of Gov. Andy Beshear’s veto of SB 150, a bill that protects children from dangerous, life-altering medical procedures and ensures parents have access and accountability in their children’s schools:
“Denying the truth that we are either male or female causes real harm to people, especially vulnerable children. Today, the Kentucky Legislature enacted vital protections for young children and parents to ensure they can’t be pressured into agreeing to life-altering, so-called ‘gender transition’ procedures. Young people deserve to live in a society that doesn’t subject them to risky experiments to which they cannot effectively consent. That’s why other countries—like Sweden, England, and Finland—are adopting policies that better protect children from the bad science that has already devastated countless lives. By overriding the governor’s veto, the Legislature also ensured Kentucky parents have greater access to the curriculum, policies, and information that affects their children. Public schools have no right to shut parents out of their child’s education and development. This legislation makes clear that the government cannot interfere with parents’ fundamental right to direct the education and upbringing of their children. We commend the Kentucky Legislature for overriding the governor’s misguided veto and enacting this critical legislation, in particular Representatives Baker, Calloway, Wesley, and Decker, and Senators Williams and Wise.”
Alliance Defending Freedom is an alliance-building, non-profit legal organization committed to protecting religious freedom, free speech, parental rights, and the sanctity of life.
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ABOUT Matt Sharp
Matt Sharp serves as senior counsel with Alliance Defending Freedom, where he is the director of the Center for Public Policy. In this role, he leads ADF's team of policy experts as they craft legislation and advise government officials on policies that promote free speech, religious freedom, parental rights, and the sanctity of human life. Since joining ADF in 2010, Sharp has authored federal and state legislation, regularly provides testimony and legal analysis on how proposed legislation will impact constitutional freedoms, and advises governors, legislators, and state and national policy organizations on the importance of laws and policies that protect First Amendment rights. He has twice testified before the U.S. Congress on the importance of protecting free speech and religious liberty in federal law. Sharp also authored an amicus brief to the U.S. Supreme Court on behalf of nearly 9,000 students, parents, and community members asking the court to uphold students’ right to privacy against government intrusion. Sharp earned his J.D. in 2006 from the Vanderbilt University School of Law. A member of the bar in Georgia and Tennessee, he is also admitted to practice in several federal courts.