Parental rights group sues California AG over law granting the state ’emergency jurisdiction’ over transgender youth

Two months after California declared itself a “sanctuary state” for transgender youth, a parental rights group is suing Attorney General Rob Bonta for violating the constitution.

The lawsuit was filed Tuesday over SB 107, a law which took effect Jan. 1, and not only permits minors to medically transition in California, but grants the state “emergency jurisdiction” over gender dysphoric children, even if those children reside in other states.

Our Watch, the group suing Bonta, is joined by a number of other groups outraged at the law’s infringement on parental rights.

“California has decided that its courts – not those of the family’s home state – should be the final arbiters of whether parents are fit to raise their child,” the lawsuit states, according to Fox News.

Tim Thompson, president of Our Watch, called the law “dangerous” and “irresponsible.”  

Other opponents of the law include detransitioners like Chloe Cole, a minor who regrets the irreversible cross-sex treatment she received as a minor. 

“As someone who has been harmed by these policies, it is imperative that we challenge SB 107 because it will allow vulnerable children from other states to undergo life-altering and harmful surgeries and drugs,” Cole said.  

Nevertheless, the law’s original sponsor, Sen. Scott Weiner, D-San Francisco, claimed it makes California a “beacon of hope” and a “refuge” for transgender minors and their families.”  

Tonight at midnight, SB 107 goes into effect & California officially becomes a state of refuge for trans kids & their families.

As red states pursue 100s of laws criminalizing LGBTQ people — with incitement to violence all too common — CA stands strong as a beacon of hope.

— Senator Scott Wiener (@Scott_Wiener) December 31, 2022

However, the wording of the law is frighteningly vague and opens potential routes for child abuse, according to its critics. 

“[The law] will welcome and protect kidnappers – including parents who have been adjudicated as unstable and unfit to care for their children – as long as the adult absconding with the child says they are doing so to put the child into gender-hormone therapy or some other, Orwellian gender-affirming care,” said Matthew McReynolds, senior attorney for the Pacific Justice Institute. 

Others are accusing California of 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,” said Emilie Kao, senior counsel for Alliance Defending Freedom.  

Kao also referenced parents’ “fundamental right to direct the upbringing and care of their children,” echoing the language of a Supreme Court case from the 1920’s in which the court affirmed parents’ rights to raise their own children.  

One legal researcher who spoke to the media says there is precedent for such cases being won.  

“For this SB 107 case, it is generally difficult to reverse bills passed by the legislature and signed into law by the Governor. And taking on an Attorney General isn’t exactly a walk in the park,” Rolando Suarez, Jr., a legal researcher, told the California Globe. “But, as we’ve seen in [the] past, many others presented their case well and they won, so there’s also a decent chance.”  

Bonta has yet to release an official statement regarding the lawsuit.