Governor Jay Inslee of Washington state is facing legal action over a controversial new law that allows the state to conceal child sex-change surgeries from parents. The nonprofit legal group American First Legal, led by former Trump adviser Stephen Miller, has filed a lawsuit challenging Senate Bill 5599, which was recently signed into law by Inslee. The law has sparked controversy for allowing “host homes” to keep parents uninformed about their child’s sex-change procedure. According to Miller, the law “essentially allows the state to kidnap children from their parents and hide their whereabouts to surgically and chemically mutilate them.”
The new law has raised concerns about parental rights and the welfare of minors. Under the law, shelters or host homes are not obligated to notify parents if a runaway child claims to be fleeing parents who disagree with a sex-change procedure or an abortion. Instead, the host home must inform the Washington Department of Children, Youth, and Families. The law also designates abortion as a “compelling reason” for licensed shelters and host homes to withhold parental notification when a runaway child seeks such a procedure.
The legislation passed through the Democrat-controlled legislature with ease, but its implications have sparked criticism from conservatives. The bill was sponsored by Democratic state Senator Marko Liias, who represents a district near Seattle and co-chairs the LGBTQ caucus. Liias emphasized the goal of providing a safe haven for children who are not welcomed at home but did not address the potential concerns over parental rights and child welfare.
Governor Inslee defended the law upon signing it, describing it as a “compassionate, developmentally appropriate, and reasoned approach to support these youth as they access gender-affirming treatment and reproductive health care services.”
The lawsuit filed by American First Legal targets not only Governor Inslee but also Washington Attorney General Robert Furguson and the secretary of the Washington Department of Children, Youth, and Families, Ross Hunter. The lawsuit asserts that the law infringes on parental rights enshrined in the United States Constitution and criticizes the “gender-affirming care” agenda, which involves experimental medical procedures and drugs on minor children.