Maine quashes trans trafficking bill 12-0 with liberal sponsors joining to flip kill switch

A joint committee in the Maine Legislature voted to kill a measure that would hand over to state courts custody of children for the purposes of sex change medicine.

The Judiciary Committee voted 12-0 to kill the bill.

“The bill authorizes a court to take temporary jurisdiction because a child has been unable to obtain gender-affirming health care or gender affirming mental health care,” said the text of the proposed bill, LD 1735.

The bill was attacked by GOP legislators as a “trans trafficking” bill, because of the language that encouraged the state to take custody over children who reside in other states, overriding parental medical decisions on trans medical care.

Rep. Jennifer Poirier, R-Skowhegan, told The Lion she is “very pleased” that her Democrat colleagues “recognized the many flaws of this bill.”  

“LD 1735 clearly overstepped parental rights and had the potential to promote child sex trafficking in Maine,” she said. “Killing this bill kept our kids safe.” 

“It’s a trans-tourism bill for Big Pharma” warned education reformer Shawn McBreairty. “It’s trans-terrorism for parents of all states.”  

Prior to the committee vote, Republicans held separate hearings on the measure, according to local WABI News 5.   

“This bill should be absolutely killed,” state Rep. Katrina Smith, R-Palermo, told WABI. “It is not ready. It has so many aspects of it, including law enforcement not being able to enforce any custody agreements or any warrant for a child to return to their state. It puts too many people in a bad spot. It’s dangerous for children, and we need to protect children. This isn’t about the transgender community. This is about children.” 

The sponsors tried to push the bill through the committee last week, but they were met by furious opposition to the measure on social media, which necessitated the addition of an amendment to try to make it more acceptable.   

“This is SICK! Bombard them with emails. This cannot pass,” tweeted journalist Megyn Kelly about the measure. 

The proposed amendment put off a vote on the bill in committee until this week, but didn’t slow down the opposition. 

Courage is a Habit (CIH) organized a letter writing and email campaigns to oppose LD 1735 that apparently worked. 

“The 12-0 defeat of this ‘Transgender Trafficking Bill’ was done in a blue state that allows nine-month abortions and where 16-year-olds can obtain transgender drugs and surgeries without parental consent,” Alvin Lui, president of CIH, told The Lion about the vote. “This absolute win is only a glimpse of what can happen when Americans take action and reject those who hate America, our Constitution, and parental rights.” 

Previously Rep. Smith blasted fellow GOPers in the Legislature for not doing enough to oppose the bill, saying only a few members had the courage to speak out against the proposed measure. 

But for Lui, the victory is sweeter because it was accomplished by ordinary Americans. 

“Every day we are inundated with so many big issues that make average Americans feel helpless,” Lui told The Lion. “This win that they were able to achieve proves that the individual American Patriot is not helpless.” 

At least not helpless in Maine.