By Don Schmitz
SB 5599 in Washington state has been passed by the legislature and sent to Gov. Jay Inslee, who intends to sign it. Prime sponsor Sen. Marko Liias (D) touts the proposed law as protecting youth seeking gender affirming or reproductive care by “removing barriers to safe shelter,” or in other words, protecting them by keeping them away from their parents.
Liias stated: “Under the bill, shelters would not be required to report youth seeking gender-affirming care or reproductive care to their parents. Instead, the measure requires reporting those youth to the state’s Department of Children, Youth and Families (DCYF).”
You read that correctly. Your kid runs away, goes to a government shelter, and if they are seeking “gender affirming treatment” (GAT) or an abortion, the government will hide them from you. For an indefinite period of time.
Governor Inslee stated: “If a young person is totally estranged from their parents and has no meaningful relationship we need someone to care for that child and the way the legislation is set up is essentially, the Department of Children Youth and Families will step in to that position to care for that child so you have someone looking out for their benefit.”
Who decides “meaningful relationship” and “estranged”? The child, and Big Brother. Nationally, it has been the norm that should a child run away from their home due to incest or physical abuse, the government will keep the children away and protect them while law enforcement investigates. This, however, is very different.
It is the law in Washington that abortions and GAT are “protected health care services.” Doctors are shielded from any liability for giving abortions or sex change operations and puberty blockers to minors under SB 1340. Furthermore, a minor can get an abortion at any age without consent or notification of the parents. Puberty blockers can be given at 13, and sex change surgery can happen without parental consent or knowledge should the doctor conclude the child is “mature.” Should a parent deny their child an abortion or GAT, the government will hide them and “provide care.”
People have passionate beliefs on GAT, on both sides of the issues. However, the government is stepping in and telling parents “It’s our decision.” Imagine the nightmare of parents cut off from their children, who are making life-altering decisions without them. Children simply aren’t mature enough for the gravity of this.
Hypocritically, Democrats are sponsoring a juvenile offender sentencing bill (SB 5475) predicated on “the expansive body of scientific research on brain development, which shows that adolescents’ perception, judgment, and decision-making skills differs significantly from that of adults.” This is the rationale for reducing sentences because they don’t know better when committing crimes.
Feel safe here? Don’t. Should your kid run off to a shelter there, under HB 1469, it’ll be illegal for an agency to extradite them home in contradiction to Washington laws, and GAT is legally protected. A proposed amendment would have added language to the bill stating its intent “is to not undermine the relationship between a parent and a child and that the act is to be narrowly construed in that context,” but it was rejected. This is not a debate about the rights of adults, who if they choose to transition have the right to do so and must be afforded the same rights as any other American citizen afterwards.
Parental sovereignty has been the norm globally since time immemorial, reflected in the Torah, Bible, Quran, and Brahma sutta. We feed, house, love, and above all protect our children, with our very lives if we must. Now the state seeks to supplant that. A Trafalgar poll found 78.7 percent believed minors should be required to wait to undergo sex-change procedures. Puberty blockers can interfere with normal brain function and cause infertility, and many parents consider sex change surgery to be irreversible mutilation of their child. Do we expect that American parents will accept the state taking their kids away and mutilating them? This is going to turn out very badly.
The passion of the Trans community and its political supporters is obvious, and its members have the best of intentions. George Orwell wrote, “A totalitarian state is in effect a theocracy, and its ruling cast, in order to keep its position, has to be thought of as infallible.” But fallible they are. We gave birth to our children, changed their diapers, fed them the healthiest foods, taught them to tie their shoes, good table manners, morals, the golden rule, sent them to the best schools, how our republic functions, and celebrated holidays filled with love. We taught them right from wrong and cried a little when they left for college. You can’t have them, Big Brother, and candidly, you aren’t nearly as well-equipped as parents to decide what is right for them.