Washington State Legislature Passes Bill That Allows State Agencies to Kidnap Minors Seeking Gender-Transition Surgeries From Parents

The Washington State Legislature passed a bill that allows state agencies to hide children seeking “gender-affirming care” from their parents.

If parents don’t consent to their child’s gender transition surgeries, the legislation allows the state to kidnap their child.

“Washington state passed SB 5599 which allows the state to legally take children away from their parents if they don’t consent to their child’s gender transition surgeries. All Democrats voted, yes. All Republicans voted, no,” said Seattle-based journalist Katie Daviscourt.

Last night, Washington state passed SB 5599 which allows the state to legally take children away from their parents if they don’t consent to their child’s gender transition surgeries.

All Democrats voted, yes.

All Republicans voted, no. https://t.co/C9wtbBxLWq

— Katie Daviscourt 🇺🇸 (@KatieDaviscourt) April 13, 2023

SB 5599 passed the Washington Senate by a 27-19 vote on March 1st and passed in the Washington House by a 57-39 vote on April 12th.

The bill reads:

Except as provided in (b) of this subsection, any person, unlicensed youth shelter, or runaway and homeless youth program that, without legal authorization, provides shelter to a minor and that knows at the time of providing the shelter that the minor is away from a lawfully prescribed residence or home without parental permission, shall promptly report the location of the child to the parent, the law enforcement agency of the jurisdiction in which the person lives, or the department, unless a compelling reason applies as defined in subsection (2) of this section.

The bill later defines this “compelling reason”:

(ii) When a minor is seeking or receiving protected health care services. (d) “Protected health care services” has the same meaning as provided in chapter . . ., Laws of 2023(Senate Bill No. 5489).

Bill sponsor Sen. Marko Liias (D) released this statement about the legislation:

Legislation to support youth seeking protected health care services in Washington passed the Senate on a 27 – 19 vote today. 

Senate Bill 5599, sponsored by Sen. Marko Liias (D-Everett), removes barriers to shelter for at-risk and vulnerable youth.  

Under current law, if a child who has run away from home goes to a licensed shelter, that shelter is required to notify the parents unless a compelling reason applies. The bill allows certified shelters to contact the Department of Children, Youth and Families (DCYF) in lieu of parents in certain additional instances, such as when a youth is seeking reproductive health services or gender-affirming care. 

“This bill is an important step in ensuring young people across the state have a roof over their heads during an already challenging period in their life,” said Liias. “While we hope that every child has a supportive family that will provide them with acceptance and the care they need, it’s crucial that we provide housing options to those in crisis.” 

cont.

The legislation would ensure that children who may not have supportive families at home do not end up on the street, but instead have shelter when seeking these protected health services. 

BREAKING: Washington has passed a bill allowing children to legally be taken from their parents if their parents don’t consent to their gender transition. https://t.co/FnlcHqZGVz

— Dr. Anastasia Maria Loupis (@DrLoupis) April 15, 2023

The Epoch Times reported:

On April 12, House lawmakers debated Senate Bill 5599 (pdf), which creates an exemption for the state that grants it the right to not be required to notify parents of minors who have left their homes because their parents wouldn’t let them pursue gender transition medical procedures.

In a video statement after the vote, Republican state Rep. Chris Corry said the bill “erodes parental rights in the state of Washington.”

“Essentially what the bill would do would be if a child left a parents’ home for certain medical care and went to a shelter or host family, that shelter or host family would not be required to notify the parents of their child’s whereabouts,” Corry said. “This is obviously a fundamental violation of parental rights and something that’s deeply concerning for parents across Washington state.”

State Rep. Peter Abbarno, a Republican, said the crux of the debate over the bill was whether the state be permitted to “essentially hide where the child is.”

Most parents, Corry said, would “go to the ends of the earth to find their child” if they disappeared after an argument.

“And the fact that we have a bill that may become law that would say, ‘we’re not going to tell you,’ was really just a bridge too far for us,” Corry said.

Corry told The Epoch Times that, under the bill, a disagreement between a child and parents over the child’s desire for a medical transition constitutes “abuse and neglect,” only because the parent hasn’t “properly affirmed what the child wants.”