California Democrats advanced legislation that would allow 12 year olds to consent to being placed into residential shelter services by mental health professionals on Tuesday, according to the state’s legislative information website.
The state Senate Judiciary Committee approved Assembly Bill 665, authored by Democratic Assembly Member Wendy Carrillo and Democratic State Sen. Scott Wiener, in a 9-2 vote, according to the legislative information website. The bill would remove requirements from a current law that requires minors “present a danger of serious physical or mental harm to themselves or to others” or be an “alleged victim of incest or child abuse” to be able to consent to mental health treatments or “residential shelter services,” according to its text.
It would also allow mental health professionals to “consult with the minor before determining whether involvement of the minor’s parent or guardian would be inappropriate,” the text reads. The bill would make the changes effective in July 2024.
Critics attacked the bill and said it was a violation of their rights and would allow for kids to be emancipated at 12 years old, according to a video of the Senate Judiciary Committee meeting posted by the California Family Council.
“There’s been a lot of misinformation and lies about this bill to the point that it has national and international attention as to how we treat mental health services for young people in the United States and in California,” Carrillo said during the meeting.
Wiener said that citizens in opposition to the bill were part of a “right-wing outrage machine,” according to the video. (RELATED: California Legislature Softens Sex Offender Registry Requirements For Sodomy With Minors | The Daily Caller)
Senator @Scott_Wiener claims that #AB665 a bill which allows state-sanctioned kidnapping is a “good and important bill.”
Wiener goes as far to call parents in opposition to #AB665 part of a “right-wing outrage machine.” pic.twitter.com/lHSDo3f3fM
— CA Family Council (@CAFamily) June 21, 2023
Denise Aguilar, co-founder of Freedom Angels, a civil rights group, called Wiener’s comments “gaslighting and name calling” on Twitter.
Carrillo and Wiener did not immediately respond to the Daily Caller News Foundation’s request for comment.
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