A recently-amended piece of state legislation gives one more reason for Californians to pull up stakes and seek greener pastures.
The California Assembly approved AB 957 on May 3, which requires courts to consider whether a child’s parents are “gender-affirming” in custody cases, The Daily Signal reported.
But when it reached the state Senate, Sen. Scott Wiener, a bill co-sponsor from San Francisco, felt it didn’t go far enough, and introduced an amendment last week.
It effectively rewrites California’s standard of child care under its Family Code, and “would include a parent’s affirmation of the child’s gender identity as part of the health, safety, and welfare of the child.”
So if a little girl’s teacher convinces her that she’s really a little boy, it’s now the parents’ duty to accept it or be charged with child abuse and lose custody of their child.
Furthermore, that standard would extend to organizations, including schools, churches, and hospitals. If an organization interacts with children, it would be required to affirm “gender transitions” of minors — or also risk charges of child abuse.
Nicole Pearson, founder of the Facts Law Truth Justice law firm and civil rights advocacy group, condemned AB 957 as being unconstitutional.
“This bill makes law that failure to affirm your child’s identity is child abuse. This will be a final, legal determination without any evidence in support, or a hearing with notice or the opportunity to be heard,” she told The Daily Signal.
“If a parent or guardian is unwilling or simply not ready to affirm their 7-year-old’s new identity — as they transition from Spongebob to Batman to Dora the Explorer — they can be found guilty of child abuse under AB-957 if it passes into law,” Pearson added.
She also observed that the bill’s sponsors, “Assemblywoman Wilson and Senator Scott Wiener are not doctors.”
However, Dr. Jay Bhattacharya is a physician. Not only is he a California M.D. and Ph.D., he’s also a Stanford School of Medicine professor. He was equally appalled.
“This law is good for neither kids nor parents,” he said. “The California legislature has lost its mind.”
But seriously, it doesn’t take a doctor to make that diagnosis. Billionaire entrepreneur Elon Musk said simply, “This is crazy.”
A number of state governors and lawmakers have been working in the opposite direction — to strengthen parental rights. One notable standout is Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, who’s seeking the Republican presidential nomination.
When a heckler at a North Carolina rally interrupted his speech last week, calling him a fascist, he gave her both barrels.
“We’re gonna stand up for our kids,” he responded. “We’re gonna make sure to do it right. That’s what we’re gonna do.”
After the crowd died down he added, “Those people like that in Florida are the people we beat every single day on policy. We do not let them win,” DeSantis added. “We do not let them indoctrinate our kids. Not on our watch.”
President Joe Biden may have had DeSantis in mind during remarks he delivered on “transgender kids” at the White House Thursday.
“These are our kids,” he said. “They’re not somebody else’s kids, they’re all our kids.”
Biden made a similar claim in April when he said, “There's no such thing as someone else's child. Our nation's children are all our children!”
And when you accept that premise, the whole notion of parental rights is destroyed.
This was a theory advanced by former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton in her 2006 book “It Takes a Village,” which suggested that raising a child is everyone’s responsibility.
The problem with that is that when everyone is responsible, no one is responsible.
Former Sen. Rick Santorum, R-Pa., who’s also a frequent Newsmax TV contributor, countered that with “It Takes a Family.”
And along with the “It Takes a Village” shared responsibility of “everyone’s kids” comes a natural progression to the “obey or die” attitude expressed in California’s AB 957.
The Yootopian, a popular conservative comic strip, expressed this very well recently.
The first panel, called “How It Started,” depicts a gay rights activist saying, “We just want to be treated like everyone else.”
The second panel (called “How It’s Going”) depicts the same gay pride activist screaming, “Celebrate us! Kneel for us! Obey our pronouns,” and finally, “Give us your children!”
The California Senate scheduled a hearing on AB 957 for Tuesday, June 13, at which time they may decide what authority the state has in “taking our children.”
If the Golden State passes that test by rejecting the bill, maybe we can start working on the rest. Maybe we can start working on the other issues destroying the country amd become the “Land of the Free” again.
Michael Dorstewitz is a retired lawyer and has been a frequent contributor to Newsmax. He is also a former U.S. Merchant Marine officer and an enthusiastic Second Amendment supporter. Read Michael Dorstewitz's Reports — More Here.