Radical ‘trans refuge’ bill about to become Minnesota law
The soon-to-be law would strip out-of-state parents of rights regarding their children who are seeking “gender-affirming” care in Minnesota.
The state Senate is expected to take up and pass HF 146 tomorrow, along with two other bills on controversial social issues. HF 146’s Senate author is Erin Maye Quade (DFL-Apple Valley). Sen. Maye Quade tweeted triumphantly today,
She is referencing a law just passed in North Dakota, that bans sex change surgeries for children under 18. The AP reports on the new North Dakota law,
The new law takes immediate effect and allows prosecutors to charge a health care provider with a felony — up to 10 years in prison and $20,000 in fines—for performing sex reassignment surgery on a minor.
Such surgeries are currently legal in Minnesota. HF 146 would enable out-of-state children to receive such treatment in Minnesota, even over the objections of one or more parents. The bill language before the Senate is unchanged from the version that passed the state House with the narrowest of margins last month.
Democrats hold a one-seat 34-33 edge in the state Senate.
The twitter account Covid Clarity notes the lack of local media attention to the bill,
She’s correct. A Google search of the terms “Minnesota trans refuge” and “Minnesota trans sanctuary” produce no news results for the past month.
As for not popular with the public, our exclusive Thinking Minnesota Poll finds that 67 percent of Minnesota voters oppose sex change operations for children.
There has been plenty of national coverage of laws similar to North Dakota’s. There has been national coverage of laws similar to Minnesota’s passed in Washington state and California.
But in Minnesota? Crickets. So any moderate Democrats (if there are any remaining) face no public pressure for tomorrow’s vote.
The closest any local outlet has gotten is this Minneapolis Star Tribune report on a complaint of Maye Quade’s against one of her Republican counterparts regarding his opposition to the bill. The story mention’s tomorrow’s vote on the trans refuge bill in passing in paragraph 11.
I guess it’s true: Democracy does die in the darkness.