A lawsuit has been filed by American First Legal against Governor Jay Inslee over controversial Senate Bill 5599, which enables children to be kidnapped from their parents in order to receive “gender affirming care” or an abortion. This law is a direct attack on parental rights, endangering children and destroying families. We’re glad to see it disputed in the legal system, since our elected officials across the aisle refused to represent the greater interest of Washington families in the legislature.
SB 5599 allows youth shelters and unlicensed host homes to become “safe havens” for children, harboring them without their parents’ knowledge or consent, and allowing the minors to receive treatment that is now illegal in 20 states.
Before SB 5599 was signed into law by Governor Inslee, any program, shelter, or individual housing a runaway or homeless child was required to report to police, Child Protective Services, and/or the parents within 72 hours. Under SB 5599, if the child reports they are seeking abortion, puberty blockers, gender “reassignment” surgery, or any other health services prescribed by a doctor to treat “dysphoria,” the place sheltering them has the full authority to assist the child in obtaining those services without contacting police, CPS, or their parents. This sets a dangerous precedent and strips parents of their ability to protect their child – from surgeries that will mutilate their bodies, from predators they could seek housing with, and from woke organizations pushing them to make decisions they will later regret.
“No state action more frighteningly illustrates the threat to our children than this law,” former Trump adviser Stephen Miller, who is representing AFL in this case, said. “This sick, authoritarian law essentially allows the state to kidnap children from their parents and hide their whereabouts to surgically and chemically mutilate them — and to formally deprive their parents of any legal ability to stop the medical disfigurement of their sons and daughters by gender extremists targeting their children.”
The lawsuit targets Governor Inslee, Attorney General Robert Furguson, and the Secretary of the Washington Department of Children, Youth, and Families, Ross Hunter. AFL argues in the suit that the law “deprives certain parents of their fundamental rights under the United States Constitution to direct the care and upbringing of their children.”
“Sponsors and supporters of this bill have overstepped the constitution and case law in promoting this policy, which would allow state bureaucrats to hide minor children from custodial parents and legal guardians,” Republican Rep. Jim Walsh said. He added that the bill operates under the misguided assumption that “families that don’t ‘affirm’ a child’s short-term desires are being abusive. [..] sometimes love requires parents to not affirm their child’s whims. Loving parents guide their children as they grow. Sometimes that means saying ‘no.’”
FPIW has worked tirelessly to fight back against SB 5599 and the threat it poses to families in Washington, including supporting referendums and initiatives hoping to overturn the law. This lawsuit is another step in the right direction toward banning gender affirming care for minors and protecting the fundamental authority parents have to safeguard their children from harm.
