In a major win for religious freedom and parental rights, the Kansas Legislature has overridden Democratic Governor Laura Kelly’s veto of House Bill 2311, a measure designed to protect foster families from being forced to compromise their deeply held religious beliefs to participate in the state’s foster care system.
The Republican-controlled legislature delivered a strong rebuke to Gov. Kelly’s veto, with the Kansas House voting 87-38and the Senate voting 31-9, both exceeding the two-thirds majority required. These votes largely fell along party lines, with Republicans standing for religious liberty and Democrats opposing.
House Bill 2311 ensures that Kansas cannot require a foster parent to “affirm, accept, or support any governmental policy regarding sexual orientation or gender identity that may conflict with the person’s sincerely held moral or religious beliefs.” The bill also prohibits the state from denying foster care licenses to individuals based on their intent to raise children according to traditional moral values, and grants a legal avenue for those wrongfully excluded.
Despite the bill’s clear aim to expand the pool of loving foster families, Gov. Kelly vetoed it, claiming, “Legislation like this detracts from [the] standard” of acting in the “best interest of the child,” and warning it could “expose the state to frivolous lawsuits.” She argued it would “further complicate” children’s lives—yet her position would continue to exclude faith-based families from offering homes to children in need.
Supporters of the bill fired back. Greg Chafuen of Alliance Defending Freedom praised the override as “a critical step to prioritize the well-being of kids by prohibiting state and local government officials from discriminating against adoption and foster care providers and parents simply because of their religious beliefs and moral convictions.”
The move follows national precedent. In 2021, the U.S. Supreme Court unanimously ruled in Fulton v. City of Philadelphia that the government cannot exclude religious foster care providers for refusing to place children with same-sex couples. Chief Justice John Roberts wrote, “Government fails to act neutrally when it proceeds in a manner intolerant of religious beliefs.”
Similar legal battles have occurred across the country. In Vermont, Christian couples were denied license renewals for refusing to promote gender ideology. One couple was told that unless they used “they/them pronouns,” the state didn’t “know how [it] can move forward with fostering.” A Massachusetts couple was also denied the ability to foster because they “would not be affirming to a child who identified as LGBTQIA.”
With HB 2311 set to become law, Kansas is sending a clear message: faith-based families should not be excluded from helping children simply because of their convictions. As Chafuen put it, “Every child deserves a loving home that can provide them stability and opportunities to grow.”
