California is now a “sanctuary state” for children seeking transgender procedures and medications.
The bill was passed in September but went into effect on January 1.
California will now “offer refuge” to minors and their families “if they’re being criminalized in their home states” over transgender treatments.
Many of these treatments irreversibly sterilize and/or disfigure the patient.
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The law says that any potential out-of-state arrest warrant for violating laws related to transgender treatments on children and teens will be given “the lowest law enforcement priority.”
“We are going to provide them with refuge and we’re not going to send them back and we’re not going to honor subpoenas,” said Senator Scott Wiener, who authored the bill. “And our law enforcement is not going to enforce the laws of Texas and Alabama criminalizing these families.”
Governor Gavin Newsom boasted about the law claiming that he was taking a stand for “parental choice.”
“In California we believe in equality and acceptance. We believe that no one should be prosecuted or persecuted for getting the care they need — including gender-affirming care,” Newsom said in a statement when he signed the bill into law. “Parents know what’s best for their kids, and they should be able to make decisions around the health of their children without fear. We must take a stand for parental choice.”
Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene has introduced the Protect Children’s Innocence Act, H.R. 8731, which will criminalize genital mutilation and chemical castration of minor children.
The bill states that anyone who “knowingly performs any gender affirming care on a minor is guilty of a class C felony” carrying a penalty of 10 to 25 years in prison and a maximum fine of $250,000. It currently has 37 Republican co-sponsors and would also prohibit using federal funds for sex change treatments.
The bill explains that the term “gender affirming care” refers to over a dozen procedures and treatments including castration, orchiectomy, scrotoplasty, vasectomy, hysterectomy, oophorectomy, ovariectomy, metoidioplasty, penectomy, vaginoplasty, vaginectomy, vulvoplasty, thyrochondroplasty, chondrolaryngoplasty, and mastectomy.