Tim Barto: SB 240 excludes parents further, as government takes full control of kids, per Sen. Giessel rewrite

The assault on parental rights continues, this time from Sen. Cathy Giessel, a registered Republican and someone who just a few years ago presented herself as something of a conservative.

That presentation should most certainly no longer fool anyone as the Anchorage senator’s journey to the dark side is now complete; her latest tactic puts on full display her alignment with those who feel parents are secondary to public school officials.

Senate Bill 240 was a simple, straightforward bill presented by Gov. Mike Dunleavy to allow Medicaid-eligible students with disabilities to access medical services through their schools. Sen. David Wilson of Wasilla helped carry the bill on behalf of the governor, but Sen. Giessel then amended the bill into something it was not meant to be, causing Sen. Wilson to pull his support.

The amended bill allows for 16-year-old students to authorize for themselves counseling services without notification being made to their parents, continuing a trend that excludes parents from not only making important health decisions in their children’s lives but from even knowing about those decisions. This is a dangerous path of subjugating parental rights and responsibilities to government entities.

Today’s youth are, for various reasons, a fragile lot. Mental health issues are ubiquitous, and counseling and therapy sessions are as normal as routine physicals used to be, if not more so.

But there are other elements at play. The explosion of gender-related interests among young people – including the exploration and encouragement of non-traditional sex roles, as well as transition therapy – has made it trendy for young people to identify on an ever expanding spectrum of sexual identities.

And now, the substituted language in SB240 kicks open the door to allow minors (teenagers, but still minors) to obtain mental health counseling without parental consent, and that open door reveals all those gender-bending issues so popular among today’s youth.

This rewritten bill has almost no resemblance to the governor’s intent, and it is a glaring example of how easily good intentions can be misused by a politician determined to further an agenda of bad intentions. It’s also a great example of why people are frustrated by political process and why that frustration has led to disinterest and disengagement from the process. The problem is that there are elected officials who fully understand that apathy and use it to their advantage.

Children’s health decisions should not be kept from parents, even – especially – when those health decisions are mental health related. This trend that gives government institutions, such as public schools, more rights over children than the children’s parents must stop. Families should make these important decisions, not public school officials or mental health counselors.

The initial vote on the version being adopted as the substitute bill was opposed by the microcaucus of Sen. Shelley Hughes, Sen. Robb Myers, and Sen. Mike Shower, but also Senators Jesse Bjorkman, James Kaufman, Kelly Merrick, and David Wilson. The final vote is on the Senate floor tomorrow, Wednesday, April 24.

Tim Barto is a regular contributor to Must Read Alaska and vice president of Alaska Family Council, which is committed to preserving parents’ rights in an age of ever encroaching government control.