Lawmakers in Maine have voted to kill a piece of legislation that sought to undermine parents’ rights by promoting “dangerous” gender surgery and other treatments for minors.
On Thursday, Democrats backed Republicans on Maine’s judiciary committee and voted to kill the bill.
The bill would have allowed minors to travel from out of state to Maine to obtain gender-altering medical procedures.
It would even enable the state to take custody of minors in “emergency” situations.
The legislation, called bill LD 1375 – or “An act to safeguard gender-affirming health care” –, was sponsored by Democrat State Rep. Laurie Osher (D-Orno).
Republicans called the bill “dangerous,” according to a report by local outlet CBS-WGME.
Meanwhile, the Democrats who originally supported it admitted the language of the bill needed reworking.
The bill, which was tossed on Thursday, stipulated the state of Maine could allow minors restricted from “gender-affirming care” in their home state to travel to Maine to receive the life-altering treatment.
The bill noted that those treatments surgeries “to align the patient’s appearance or physical body with the patient’s gender identity,” and “Interventions to suppress the development of endogenous secondary sex characteristics.”
Further language in the bill would have allowed the government to take “emergency jurisdiction” over any child who has been rendered “unable to obtain gender-affirming health care or gender-affirming mental health care” even by their siblings and parents.
“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 bill’s text stated.
Republican Maine State Sen. Lisa Keim told WGME that parents from “around the country have reached out to talk to us about this bill” and expressed their “angst” over it.
“Parents shouldn’t have their rights threatened in this way, and this is a dangerous bill for children,” Keim added.
State Rep. Rachel Henderson trashed the proposed bill as well.
Speaking to the local media outlet, Henderson said:
“This gives the state jurisdiction to effectively come into your home and take your kids based on a medical decision you made for the wellbeing and mental wellbeing of your child.”
State Rep. Katrina J. Smith warned about the bill last week in a Fox News interview, stating:
“Maine is going to open the doors to this and open the door to kids who meet someone on TikTok, and they get the idea that they need this surgery or hormone replacement therapy, and they’re going to grab a bus or someone is going to come pick them up and bring them to Maine and a parent is not going to do a thing about it.”
Democrat Osher, the bill’s sponsor, expressed to WGME that this was never the intent, but instead about giving the proper care to individuals.
She said, “That’s disrespectful to our care providers.
“Our care providers are trained, we have certification and licensing in Maine, and they only provide the care that’s needed for their patients.”
Republicans found it dangerous, while Democrats admitted that its language was flawed and needed to be altered.
Following the vote Thursday, Osher said, “We will make sure that people are protected that our care providers are protected.
“Today was a moment where we’re not getting that done, but we will get that done.”
Meanwhile, Osher is continuing to campaign for Maine to become a “transgender safe haven” for children.
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