Suit was filed yesterday in a California federal district court challenging the constitutionality of California Senate Bill 107 which protects out-of-staters obtaining gender transition services for a minor in California from the reach of laws in their home states that create civil or criminal liability for allowing a minor to receive such services. The complaint (full text) in Our Watch With Tim Thompson v. Bonta, (CD CA, filed 3/7/2023), claims that:
SB 107 will allow California doctors, via telehealth appointments, to prescribe cross-sex hormones to children in South Dakota or Utah, where gender-reassignment treatment is banned.
... SB 107 also denies parents the right to access their child’s medical information. Section 1 of the bill mandates that doctors conceal a child's medical information from parents if it is related to "gender identity" drugs and procedures. S.B. 107 § 1.
SB 107 amended California law to directly conflict with federal law by taking away other states’ rightful jurisdiction of children visiting California who seek – or claims to be seeking – puberty blockers, cross-sex hormones, irreversible gender reassignment surgery, etc. Section 4 of SB 107 updates the California Family Code to read: “[t]he presence of a child in this state for the purpose of obtaining gender-affirming health care or gender-affirming mental health care…is sufficient to meet the requirements” for California courts to exercise jurisdiction over a custody decision. S.B. 107 § 4. This ignores the proper and rightful jurisdiction of the child’s home state....
The suit alleges that the law violates constitutional rights of familial association as well as Article IV's full faith and credit clause. Advocates for Faith & Freedom issued a press release announcing the filing of the lawsuit.
