A bill written to protect young people seeking reproductive health services or gender-affirming care that was widely misrepresented online passed the Democrat-controlled Washington legislature Wednesday. FOX13
Viral posts falsely claimed the bill would result in children being legally taken from their parents if they did not consent to their child’s "gender transition."
Existing law generally requires licensed shelters and host homes to notify parents within 72 hours when a minor comes into their care. The bill would allow the facilities to instead contact the state Department of Children, Youth and Families, which could then attempt to reunify the family if feasible. The bill would also allow youths to stay at host homes, which are private homes that volunteer to temporarily house young people without parental permission.
"The posts are inaccurate," Craig Konnoth, a law professor at the University of Virginia, wrote in an email to The Associated Press. "Children cannot be taken away under this bill." "There’s nothing in this bill that speaks to the state taking your child from a home setting," said Washington state Sen. Marko Liias, a Democrat who is the primary sponsor of the legislation. "We want to make sure everybody in our state, particularly young people who were kicked out of their house because of their identity, have a safe place to get stabilized, get connected to services.
The legislation also calls for the department to make a "good faith attempt" to notify the parents after they are contacted by shelters or host homes and offer services designed to "resolve the conflict and accomplish a reunification of the family," according to the bill text. Family reunification efforts would be pursued when possible, Liias said.
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