The Kansas Legislature is expected to vote Thursday to join 22 other states in banning sex change surgeries and treatments on minors.

The House Wednesday overwhelmingly passed the Senate’s Help Not Harm Act, 80 to 40. The bill heads back for an expected re-approval by the Senate after House changes.

“One of our jobs as legislators is to ensure the right protections are in place for the well-being of Kansas kids,” reads a joint statement from House Speaker Dan Hawkins, House Majority Leader Chris Croft and Speaker Pro Tem Blake Carpenter.

“There are numerous examples of this, including age restrictions for the purchase of alcohol or cigarettes, gambling, and other practices that can lead to sustained, negative outcomes for vulnerable youth. Kids’ brains aren’t fully developed to the point they can make these life-altering decisions.

“These procedures have been found to lead to long-term consequences such as sterilization, permanent voice changes, and the increased risk of cardiovascular issues and osteoporosis.

“Today we move Kansas one step closer to joining 22 other states and multiple European nations in protecting children from these life-altering drugs and surgeries while preserving a litany of mental health treatments to address underlying issues.”

While most of the media couch the procedures sympathetically as “gender-affirming care,” opponents argue they are sex-change treatments on minors whose brains are not yet fully formed and who may not be capable of grasping the permanency of the disfiguring surgeries and life-altering regimens.

Only Tuesday, the United Kingdom’s National Health Service banned the prescribing of so-called puberty blockers for those under 18. One health official there said the decision will “ensure care is based on evidence, expert clinical opinion … in the best interests of the child.”

“Elon Musk has called puberty blockers ‘sterilization drugs,’” writes Forbes, “suggesting they were banned ‘due to potentially severe negative effects.’”

The Kansas bill would ban sex-change surgeries and puberty blockers for children and provide for license removal and lawsuits against health care providers who violate the ban.

The bill also would prohibit the use of state money for such treatments, and the promotion of them, or of social transitioning, by state employees.

Gov. Laura Kelly has indicated she would veto the bill, as she did last year with a similar bill, a veto the Legislature was unable to override.