California Governor Gavin Newsom is the king of the woke virtue signal. As such, he has made California the haven for all sorts of bad leftist policy. These policies have made the Not-So-Golden State an abortion tourism destination, generated a huge homelessness problem, and promoted lawless city centers. Now, Newsom has signed a bill that permits minors to cross state lines and medically transition without their parents’ consent.

The bill was created by state Senator Scott Weiner. The way the legislation spins it, California is now a “sanctuary state” for these minors. It not only prevents parents from stopping these permanently damaging medical procedures, but it also prohibits law enforcement from other states from intervening. The bill literally says it will “prohibit law enforcement agencies from making, or intentionally participating in, the arrest of an individual pursuant to an out-of-state arrest warrant based on another state’s law against receiving or allowing a child to receive gender-affirming health care.”

In the event that a minor (child or teen) crosses state lines with the intent of achieving “gender-affirming care,” California has granted itself the right of temporary emergency custody by declaring itself the de facto parent: “The bill would authorize a court to take temporary jurisdiction because a child has been unable to obtain gender-affirming health care.”

This is right in line with far-leftist ideology on this issue. Leftists have declared that parents who try to stop their gender-confused children from going down the transgenderism rabbit hole are abusive, but the gender-affirmation ideologues are the true abusers. Story after story after story has revealed that gender affirmation does not do what it purports. Not only does it not prevent suicide (the number one justification for medical “transitioning”), but there is no guidance, no guardrails, no quality of informing of the dangers. And this is just for those of legal consenting age.

For minors (18 and younger) who do not have the prefrontal cortex brain development to fully comprehend the lifelong ramifications of the drastic medical procedures associated with “transitioning,” consent is not something they can even give. That is why people go to jail for sleeping with minors. It is largely understood that, developmentally, they do not have the ability to understand the long-term ramifications of those sorts of decisions. Which is why parents or legal guardians should make those decisions for them. California has ripped those safeguards away. It is truly evil.

Governor Newsom, for his part, pontificated: “In California we believe in equality and acceptance. We believe that no one should be prosecuted or persecuted for getting the care they need — including gender-affirming care. Parents know what’s best for their kids, and they should be able to make decisions around the health of their children without fear. We must take a stand for parental choice.” This goes far beyond the purview of parental rights. It is the erasure of parental rights for minors who choose to cross state lines because they’ve been groomed into thinking that medical transitioning will solve their problems.

Newsom has been making loud and divisive moves like this in part to draw a contrast between himself and Governors Greg Abbott of Texas and Ron DeSantis of Florida. Newsom is also trying to set himself apart in the 2024 Democrat presidential field should Joe Biden not run again (which is entirely likely). But this move to make California a child-abuse sanctuary state is an 80-20 issue. Most parents do not like this foolishness, and that has been made clear again and again across bipartisan lines.

Gavin Newsom is in his elitist bubble, though, and will have to figure this out the hard way.