CV NEWS FEED // A bill under consideration by the Illinois legislature would label parents who deny their minor children access to so-called “gender-affirming care” or abortion, as “abuse[rs].”
HB 4876 states that “‘abused child’ means a child whose parent or immediate family member … denies the child access to necessary medical care, including, but not limited to, primary care services, abortion services, or gender-affirming services.”
As reported by CatholicVote, cases of gender dysphoria have skyrocketed since 2018. In Illinois, the number of cases rose over 50%.
Parents Not Needed
The proposed bill goes on to specify: “Consent to the performance of abortion services and gender-affirming services executed by a minor is not voidable because of such minority.”
In addition, it would mandate that an Illinois doctor who provides so-called “gender-affirming services” or abortions to a minor “shall not incur civil or criminal liability” or be professionally disciplined “for failure to obtain valid consent” from the parents.
“This is Canada-level erasure of parental rights,” said CatholicVote Director of Government Affairs Tom McClusky. “The passage of such a bill would effectively make all children suffering from mental illness wards of the state and criminalize parents trying to save them from irreversible mutilation.”
The legislation allows doctors who perform “gender-affirming” procedures or abortions on minor children without parental consent as long as “the health care professional relied in good faith on representations made by the minor.”
Children Are Adults?
Nicole Wells of Newsmax summarized the bill, noting that it “gives minors the same legal status as adults in terms of consent for gender transition medical treatments and abortion services.”
The Daily Wire’s Virginia Kruta added that on top of all of this, HB 4876 “empowers the Illinois Department of Children and Family Services (DCFS) to step in and, if they deem it necessary, remove children from their biological parents based on [this] new definition of an ‘abused child.’”
Kruta went on to describe that if the “DCFS finds any such abuse allegations to be warranted,” Illinois parents could be criminally prosecuted, and potentially face significant jail time. She wrote:
Illinois law already classifies child abuse — depending upon the nature and severity of the abuse — as a criminal offense ranging from a misdemeanor that carries a maximum sentence of one year in prison and a $2,500 fine to a felony that can carry up to $25,000 in fines and 15 years behind bars.
>> Dr. PHIL BLASTS SO-CALLED ‘GENDER-AFFIRMING CARE’ FOR MINORS <<
Pro-Trans Lawmaker
Illinois Rep. Anne Stava-Murray of Naperville introduced HB 4876 earlier this month. On February 11, she took to Facebook defending her staunch support for the “transgender” movement.
“[T]rans kids go through irreversible damage from a puberty that doesn’t match their gender identity every day in this country,” the state lawmaker then claimed.
She also characterized so-called “gender-affirming care” as “lifesaving,” adding that it “should be the standard.”
A Facebook user called Stava-Murray out on her introduction of the controversial legislation.
“It’s terrifying you want to do these types of medical procedures without parental/adult consent,” the user wrote. “You are protecting the doctors more than the children and their parents.”
The lawmaker replied to her writing, “[I]t’s terrifying that you and your ilk want medically lifesaving procedures inaccessible to children due to their age.”
>> THERAPIST WHO SPOKE OUT AGAINST ‘GENDER-AFFIRMING CARE’ FIRED FROM JOB <<
Pushback
Rep. Jeff Duncan, R-SC, slammed Stava-Murray’s pro-“transgender” advocacy on X (formerly Twitter) Thursday.
“I’m disgusted that Illinois State Representative Anne Stava-Murray introduced a bill to classify a parent who denies their child a sex change, puberty blockers, or an abortion as a child abuser,” the U.S. congressman posted:
Why are Democrats set on sexualizing kids, filling kids’ heads with unscientific non-sense that you can be any gender you want, and telling parents that the government knows better how to raise your child?
Prominent parents rights activist “Billboard Chris” also blasted Stava-Murray’s bill on X.
“[Democratic Illinois Gov. J.B.] Pritzker and the Democrats think your children belong to them,” he wrote.
Democrats Split?
Not every blue state lawmaker seems to be following Stava-Murray’s lead in pursuing legislation aimed at limiting parental consent to so-called “gender-affirming care.”
Tony Kinnett of The Daily Signal reported Wednesday that a proposed Maryland bill “would forbid health care providers from providing any transgender medical procedures … to minors without parental knowledge and consent.”
State Del. Lauren Arikan, R-MD, proposed the legislation, known as HB 722. She was joined by over a dozen co-sponsors, including three Democrats. Kinnett noted that the bipartisan nature of the bill “buck[ed] the national trend of a party-line split on the issue.”
“Under the bill, anyone who authorizes or provides such transgender procedures to minors could be found guilty of a misdemeanor and sentenced to prison for one to three years,” Kinnett indicated.
