Washington state passes law that allows minors to transition genders without parental consent

Washington Gov. Jay Inslee has signed a law that allows minors with gender dysphoria to make medical decisions on transition medical treatment without parental consent, reports the AP. 

The new Washington law comes into effect as other states are restricting transition medical treatment for minors. Restrictions have already been enacted in 18 states, according to The Hill. 

By contrast, only six states have approved or are considering providing minors with medical decision-making powers about gender treatments, usurping parental rights, said the AP. 

Washington state Senate Republican Leader John Braun said that the new law seeks to drive a wedge between parents and children.

Specifically he warned in a statement that it will allow runaway children to simply disappear, shielded by the state, with the whereabouts of such children withheld from parents. 

“The sponsors of Senate Bill 5599 have said on the record that they want safe spaces where children have the freedom to express their true selves and that Washington must clear a path to ensure success for every child,” said Braun in the statement. “I agree. Like so many other health-related situations, gender dysphoria presents unique needs that deserve attention. But this should not mean removing parents from the decision-making process.”

While LGBT proponents have claimed that medical treatments for children suffering from gender dysphoria are rare, the numbers of minors who have been treated with such care has exploded in recent years. 

Critics have blamed the explosion on the establishment of more LGBT lobbying groups, and the lucrative money paid to medical centers that provide such care for gender confused children at pediatric medical centers.

In August 2022, the New York Post said that the transgender care medical business was a $1.9 billion industry, estimating that gender change surgeries cost as much as $100,000, with simple puberty blockers and hormones costing as much as $1,500 per year, per patient for the rest of their lives. 

Braun said that the new Washington law flies in the face of other laws that Democrats are sponsoring that show that children are not mentally prepared to make medical decisions.

“Democrats have claimed many times that the brains of minors are not fully developed until age 22,” said Braun. “Right now, they are sponsoring a juvenile offender sentencing bill [Senate Bill 5475] based on ‘the expansive body of scientific research on brain development, which shows that adolescents’ perception, judgment, and decision-making skills differs significantly from that of adults.’ It’s revealing how brain research matters to them when juveniles break the law, but not when they seek life-altering, potentially irreversible health care.”

One former sexual assault survivor, who transitioned genders and then de-transitioned, warned that the new law could have an adverse effect on children who have suffered from abuse. 

“In the short term, I might have felt better having medically transitioned,” she testified. “Despite feeling better in the short term, medical transition would have profoundly damaged me, potentially even more than the sexual assault [that caused her gender dysphoria].”

A recent poll found that an overwhelming majority of Americans oppose transgender care for minors. The poll by the Washington Post/KFF found 68% of Americans oppose such treatments, while 62% support counseling or therapy as alternatives.