WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, on behalf of our clients, America First Legal (AFL), Schaerr Jaffe LLP, and Joel Ard, sued the Governor of Washington, Jay Inslee, the Attorney General of Washington, Robert Furguson, and the Secretary of the Washington Department of Children, Youth, and Families, Ross Hunter to stop the enforcement of Senate Bill 5599 – a new law that allows shelters to take in children struggling with gender dysphoria and potentially provide them with life-altering “care” (potentially including sterilization) without parental consent or knowledge.
The recently signed legislation creates a dangerous incentive for minors who disagree with their parents on “gender-affirming care” to run away to a shelter or host home. The new law takes away a requirement of notice to parents.
Furthermore, the law authorizes the state to refer a minor for “behavioral health services” without defining what this entails. In practice, this means that young children who run away from home could be receiving chemical sterilization drugs or even genital mutilation without the consent or knowledge of the parents.
