Parents and NGOs Seek Supreme Court Review of Washington's Youth Shelter Law
Parents and two nonprofits have asked the Supreme Court to hear a challenge to Washington's 2023 law that lets shelters hide runaway children receiving gender-affirming care from their parents, claiming it violates their constitutional rights.
A coalition of five parents and two advocacy groups has petitioned the U.S. Supreme Court to review Washington's 2023 youth-shelter legislation, which allows shelters to withhold runaway children from parents and refer them for gender-affirming medical interventions without notice or consent. The plaintiffs argue the statutes—Senate Bill 5599, House Bill 1406 and a 1985 minor-treatment law—constitute "state-sanctioned kidnapping" that infringes the First and Fourteenth Amendments, invoking Justice Antonin Scalia's principle that standing should not be contested when a majority targets a minority.
A lower-court panel dismissed their claim, saying the parents suffered no concrete injury. Supporters of the challenge, including First Liberty Institute, Schaerr Jaffe, and psychologist Erica Anderson, filed amicus briefs emphasizing the potential for irreversible harm and the state's unchecked authority over child return. The petition follows recent Supreme Court decisions expanding parental-rights precedents and could affect similar gender-affirming policies in other states. Opponents argue the laws protect vulnerable youth, while the case highlights a broader national clash over transgender health care and parental authority.
