The Maine legislature is considering radical legislation that threatens parental rights by giving courts “temporary emergency jurisdiction” of minors who seek “transgender” medical interventions – against their parents’ wishes.
These medical interventions include puberty blockers, hormones and surgeries that permanently damage the minds and bodies of children and teens.
At least 12 states have such “shield” or “refugee” laws, as the Movement Advancement Project, an LGBT activist group, euphemistically calls them. In reality, these states are unlawfully undermining the right of parents to provide for the care, upbringing and education of their children.
Maine’s proposed legislation, “An Act to Safeguard Gender-affirming Health Care,” L.D. 1735, states:
A court of this State has temporary emergency jurisdiction if the child is present in this State and the child has been abandoned or it is necessary in an emergency to protect the child because the child or a sibling or parent of the child is subjected to or threatened with mistreatment or abuse or because the child has been unable to obtain gender-affirming health care or gender-affirming mental health care.
The provision is identical to a California law, the first state to assault parents’ rights in this way in 2022, as reported by the Daily Citizen.
L.D. 1735 equates child abandonment with parents who don’t want their children to undergo destructive transgender procedures. It allows children to receive drugs, hormones and surgeries without their parents’ permission. It turns Maine into a “refuge state,” where children can cross over from other states and have a court oversee the damage of their minds and bodies – without parents’ knowledge and consent.
The legislative summary makes it clear that the intent is to overturn parental rights:
The bill authorizes a court to take temporary jurisdiction because a child has been unable to obtain gender-affirming health care or gender-affirming mental health care.
L.D. 1735 also says that law enforcement officials in the state may not intervene to protect children and reunite them with parents who do not consent to these injurious and ineffective treatments.
The Institute for Research and Evaluation (IRE) published a review of the available medical and psychological literature on minors and so-called “gender affirming medical care.” IRE’s publication, “Transgender Research: Five Things Every Parent and Policy-Maker Should Know,” explains that transgender medical interventions do not help – and are often detrimental.
IRE’s evaluation demonstrates the following:
- Many scientific agencies – both U.S. and international – do not recommend medical “transition” for youth because the research claiming to show positive effects from cross-sex hormones or surgery is methodologically flawed and not scientifically reliable.
- Widely cited studies claiming that suicidality in gender-confused youth is reduced by cross-sex hormonal and surgical interventions have been found to have significant methodological flaws and therefore should not be relied on. Scientifically sound studies have found either no reduction or an increase in transgender suicidality after youth have received cross-sex medical procedures.
- Scientific evidence has not shown that cross-sex medical treatments are beneficial to children or adolescents. The research making these claims is not scientifically reliable. In fact, there is evidence of harmful impact. Consequently, a growing number of scientific agencies do not recommend such treatments. Instead, they recommend counseling and watchful waiting for gender-confused youth.
- Research shows gender dysphoria in children usually goes away on its own by young adulthood, if “transition” is not encouraged. This avoids the harmful effects of cross-sex medical interventions.
Thankfully, other states are protecting children. Twenty-one states have passed “Help Not Harm” legislation, protecting minors from injurious medical interventions – procedures that children are not mentally and emotionally equipped to consent to. Two more states have bans on surgery for transgender youth. Five states can impose felony charges on those who harm children with these drugs, hormones and surgeries.
Maine’s L.D. 1735 stalled in a judiciary committee hearing last week, but a second hearing will take place on January 25.
The Daily Citizen encourages concerned parents and other citizens to spread the word about this assault on minors, parental rights and other states. You can also contact the Maine legislature to kindly and firmly register your opposition to L.D. 1735.
Focus on the Family exists to help families, and that includes help navigating the issues of homosexuality and transgenderism. Focus offers a free, one-time counseling consultation with a licensed or pastoral counselor. To request a counseling consultation, call 1-855-771-HELP (4357) or fill out our Counseling Consultation Request Form.
