Washington Democrat leader: Parents don’t have the right to have notice, consent over children’s mental healthcare after age 13

He also told the outlet, referring to 13-year-olds, "If they're old enough to get pregnant, they're old enough to make their own decisions about what happens with their bodies, and parents do not have the right to change that."

The clips went viral after they were shared by the X account Libs of TikTok and even caught the attention of the platform’s CEO Elon Musk who wrote, “That’s insane.”

The comments came the day after Washington Senate Democrats unanimously voted to strip parental rights from legislation they passed with Republicans last year. Senate Bill 5181 undermines Initiative 2081, also known as the Parental Rights Initiative.

Washingtonians collected over 454,000 signatures to bring Initiative 2081 before the Legislature. The bill states 15 rights that parents of public school students have, including notifying parents of academic, medical, safety, and law enforcement issues and the right to examine and request records and educational materials. The measure was part of a slate of seven common-sense citizen initiatives last session, intended for a statewide vote. Three of the initiatives were sent to the ballot and the rest, including the parental rights, were passed by the Legislature in a bipartisan fashion.

The Democrats rejected many commonsense amendments to SB 5181, including an amendment that would restore provisions granting parents and legal guardians the right to receive notification when medical services are offered to their child. Every Senate Republican voted against the bill. Despite voting for the initiative last year, Democrats have been seeking to undermine it since it passed. Last week, a judge dismissed a lawsuit brought by left learning groups, including the ALCU and donors, that was attempting to block several aspects of the bill.

Pedersen and Speaker of the House Laurie Jinkins (D-Tacoma) who are leading the effort to gut the parental rights initiative, previously wrote an op-ed in the Seattle Times claiming they voted for it because approximately 90 percent of the initiative was already state law.

If passed by both chambers and signed by Democratic Gov. Bob Ferguson, the legislation would remove parental rights to notification of medical services and treatment provided to children and certain notifications of criminal action and law enforcement involvement at the school.

Rep. Travis Couture (R-Allyn) told reporters that Democrats’ actions were a “slap in the face to democracy.” He added, “Democrats stood up on the House floor and said that they were feeling safe to pass this because they didn’t think it would change anything,” noting that Democrats who voted to pass the measure knew they would return this legislative session to “reverse it.”

The companion legislation in the Washington House of Representatives, HB 1296, is still working its way through the chamber. Last month, Democrats in the House voted against an amendment that would have required school districts to immediately notify parents if their student is the victim of sexual misconduct by a school employee. Couture, who proposed the amendment, posted on X, “How any sane person could deny my amendment is outrageous.”

He pointed out last month during a hearing on the bill, “We have seen a stunning amount of sexual misconduct and sexual assaults by educators in our schools just in the last year itself, including two principals in a Vancouver school district that hid from parents a statutory rape of a 16-year-old female student in their school by one of their staff.”

In an interview with The Ari Hoffman Show on Talk Radio 570 KVI, before the legislative session began, Pederson said that Washington Democrats also plan to close prisons and mental health facilities, despite the state experiencing a massive crime wave, and instead spend the money to bail out failing public schools.