The California Family Council has joined parental rights groups from around the nation to encourage Governor Gavin Newsom to veto a bill sitting on his desk that will make California a sanctuary for transgender drugs and surgeries for minors. More than 50 organizations signed a letter from the Promise to America’s Parents Coalition stating that SB 107 would strip parents in other states of their parental rights if their child travels to California to obtain life-altering drugs and irreversible surgeries.
“In an astonishing disregard for federal law and the constitutional rights of parents, California wants to take away custody of children from their own parents—no matter what state they’re from—and deny families the right to access their child’s medical information.”
So far, bill author Senator Scott Wiener has only promoted the part of SB 107 that lets parents and doctors escape prosecution in California for violating the laws of other states that have banned using trans-treatments on minors. When challenged about the new authority the bill gives state courts to remove children from their parent’s custody, Wiener dodges the question or denies custody will be affected by the bill at all. But the bill text is clear on this point:
“SEC. 5. Section 3424 of the Family Code is amended to read:
(a) A court of this state has temporary emergency jurisdiction if the child is present in this state and the child has been abandoned or it is necessary in an emergency to protect the child because the child, or a sibling or parent of the child, is subjected to, or threatened with, mistreatment or abuse, or because the child has been unable to obtain gender-affirming health care or gender-affirming mental health care, as defined by Section 16010.2 of the Welfare and Institutions Code.”
The non-partisan explanation of the bill listed on the state legislative website summarized the above paragraph this way:
“The bill would authorize a court to take temporary jurisdiction because a child has been unable to obtain gender-affirming health care.”
The bill text also clearly legalizes kidnapping children from parents of other states if the children are brought to California for trans-treatments.
“SEC. 7. Section 3428 of the Family Code is amended to read…
(d) In making a determination under this section, a court shall not consider as a factor weighing against the petitioner any taking of the child, or retention of the child after a visit or other temporary relinquishment of physical custody, from the person who has legal custody, if there is evidence that the taking or retention of the child was a result of domestic violence against the petitioner, as defined in Section 6211, or for the purposes of obtaining gender-affirming health care or gender-affirming mental health care… .”
The non-partisan explanation of the bill listed on the state legislative website summarized the above paragraph this way:
“The bill would additionally prohibit a court from considering the taking or retention of a child from a person who has legal custody of the child, if the taking or retention was for obtaining gender-affirming health care or mental health care.”
- Click here for a complete legal analysis of SB 107 from Alliance Defending Freedom
- Click here for a copy of the Promise to America’s Parents Coalition letter
We are grateful for governors who protect parental rights. @govstitt, thank you for speaking out against California’s SB107. https://t.co/eobfKgDb4C pic.twitter.com/k6vRa6YQMl
— Family Research Council (@FRCdc) September 20, 2022
