Politics

New Law Allows Washington To Keep Parents In The Dark On Runaway Kids

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CHANDAN KHANNA/AFP via Getty Images

Sarah Wilder Social Issues Reporter
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Democratic Washington Gov. Jay Inslee signed a law Tuesday allowing the state to keep the location of kids a secret if they are running away from home to access sex change operations.

Senate Bill 5599 requires parental notification of a child’s whereabouts unless there are “compelling reasons” to withhold it. Reasons include “gender affirming treatment” and “reproductive health care services,” according to the legislation. (RELATED: North Dakota Law Says Teachers Don’t Have To Use ‘Preferred Pronouns’)

“Youth seeking certain medical services are especially at risk and vulnerable,” the bill reads. “Therefore, the legislature intends to remove barriers to accessing temporary, licensed shelter accommodations for youth seeking certain protected health care services.”

The Family Policy Institute of Washington (FPIW) in April accused the bill of putting vulnerable children in harm’s way.

“The bill does not state any point at which the host must contact the child’s parents, so the child could presumably be kidnapped from their parents for an indeterminate amount of time, and the parents would have no way of knowing who they were with, if they were safe, or if the police had any involvement in their child’s housing,” FPIW staff wrote in a press release.

“Sponsors and supporters of this bill have overstepped the constitution and case law in promoting this policy, which would allow state bureaucrats to hide minor children from custodial parents and legal guardians,” Republican state Rep. Jim Walsh said during the House vote on the legislation in mid-April.

Inslee signed a bill allowing transgender people to seal court records of their name changes in April with the aim of preventing harassment.

The governor in 2017 released a statement criticizing the Trump administration’s move to ban most transgender individuals from military service.

“Washington is home to one of the nation’s largest active duty military populations with more than 100,000 active duty men, women and civilians working at our state’s six world-class military installations,” Inslee said. “President Trump’s announcement that he intends to ban transgender individuals from serving in the military is an insult to these service members and an affront to our nation’s values.”