The new law allows accused rapists 18 years old and younger to receive a reduced third-degree felony charge of unlawful sexual activity if they're enrolled in high school, avoiding jail time and sex offender registration.
"This ban would be among the most restrictive in the entire country, helping to protect young people from harmful content and addictive algorithms that have a proven negative impact on their mental health," House Speaker Ron Mariano and House Ways and Means Chair Aaron Michlewitz said in a joint statement.
Republican-appointed judges reversed a ruling which blocked the ban, arguing with little evidence that gender-affirming care for trans adults was "dangerous," urging states not to fund what it spuriously described as "experimental procedures." It further claimed that trans people had become "disdainful of their sex" and claimed, again without evidence, that banning such provisions would "encourage citizens to appreciate their sex."
The parents object that these policies prevent schools from telling them about their children's efforts to engage in gender transitioning at school unless the children consent to parental notification. The parents also take issue with California's requirement that schools use children's preferred names and pronouns regardless of their parents' wishes.
An estimated 724,000 Americans in this age group identify as transgender, the institute notes. Of these, 382,800, 53 percent, live in one of the 29 states that has enacted one or more laws banning access to gender-affirming care, participation in sports, use of bathrooms and other sex-separated facilities, or gender affirmation through pronoun use. Thirty-six percent - 262,700 - live in one of the 16 states that has enacted all four such restrictions.
The initial subpoena, sent to 20 medical providers last year, demanded the young patients' addresses, Social Security numbers, medical diagnoses, prescriptions, all documents affirming any parental authorization to receive gender-affirming care, and other information.
