Washington bill to allow medical transgender interventions on minors without parental consent

A Washington State bill that would strip parents’ rights to intervene on their kids medical care in certain circumstances passed the House Wednesday, clearing its pathway to being signed by Gov. Jay Inslee.

“An act relating to supporting youth,” or Senate Bill 5599, allows host homes for runaway youth “to house youth without parental permission.” Furthermore, the host homes do not need to notify parents about where their kids are or if they are getting medical interventions “if there is a compelling reason not to, which includes a youth seeking protected health services.”

The “protected health care services” included “gender-affirming care,” which for minors arbitrarily included anything prescribed by a doctor to treat dysphoria, the bill said. 

“Gender affirming treatment can be prescribed to two-spirit, transgender, nonbinary, and other gender diverse individuals,” the bill stated. 

For minors, “affirming care” typically included puberty blockers, cross-sex hormones and surgeries. It was unclear which services would be approved under the bill. 

Instead of contacting parents, shelters can contact the Washington Department of Children, Youth and Families (DCYF) instead. 

Another “compelling reason” not to notify parents about kids staying in a host home was “circumstances that indicate notifying the parent or legal guardian will subject the minor to abuse or neglect.”

The bill was criticized by opponents for being “child abuse.” 

The opposition said, according to the bill’s text, “A parents job is to protect their child, this bill strips parents of that ability… Gender is in your imagination. This bill legalizes the kidnapping of children, allows for the harboring of minors, and segregates us from the union.”

After it passed the house, Democratic State Rep. Tana Senn, who supported the bill, said, “I am saying tonight to them that I see you, that I affirm you, that I hear you, that I love you,” according to Townhall. 

State Senate Republican Leader John Braun blasted the bill for attacking parents’ rights. 

“The only thing [the bill] would do is cause harm by driving a wedge between vulnerable kids and their parents, at a time when a teen lacks the perception and judgment to make critical life-altering decisions,” Braun said. “A parent may not even know why the child ran away and could involve law enforcement or other groups in a desperate search… all the while going through an unnecessary emotional nightmare, imagining the worst about what might have happened.”

Other states, such as California, are considering legislation that would restrict parents’ rights. Some critics have accused a bill of “state-sanctioned kidnapping.” 

In March, California introduced a bill, currently being reviewed in the State Senate, students to be admitted into a group home without parental consent with approval from school counselors. 

A counselor who testified against the bill said, “It is apparent that one result of this bill will be the removal of trans-identified children from the family home.”

“In the dystopian nightmare we are in, if a parent doesn’t use the child’s chosen pronoun or name, they are labeled dangerous,” Pamela Garfield-Jaeger said in her testimony, according to Daily Signal.