Kentucky legislature overrode Beshear's veto to enact HB495, voiding conversion-therapy protections and barring Medicaid gender-affirming care

On March 27, 2025, the Kentucky General Assembly overrode Gov. Andy Beshear's veto to enact House Bill 495, "AN ACT relating to healthcare services and declaring an emergency," on votes of 78-20 in the House and 31-6 in the Senate. Republican lawmakers held a veto-proof supermajority; in the Senate, one Democrat crossed over to support the override. The bill's primary sponsor was Rep. David Hale.

The law nullifies Gov. Beshear's 2024 Executive Order 2024-632, which had restricted the practice of conversion therapy, and voids any regulation or order "substantially the same" through January 1, 2028. It also bars Kentucky Medicaid from covering gender-affirming medical care for transgender people. An emergency clause made the measure effective immediately upon enactment.

Beshear, who had vetoed the bill, said conversion therapy "has no basis in medicine or science" and causes long-term harm. The Fairness Campaign, an LGBTQ+ advocacy group, called the override "a sad day in Kentucky," saying the law denied Medicaid coverage for transgender health care.