The Illinois legislature is considering a bill that would allow authorities to charge parents or guardians with child abuse if they deny their children access to abortion or gender transition services.
House Bill 4876 was introduced earlier this month by State Rep. Anna Stava-Murray, and would also provide legal protection to medical professionals who perform abortions or provide gender reassignment treatments, like surgery and hormone replacement drugs.
If passed, the bill would amend Illinois’ existing Abused and Neglected Child Act by changing the definition of an abused child to include those whose parents object to them seeking such procedures. It also places the ability to procure these treatments fully in the hands of children as young as 12.
“Consent to the performance of abortion services and gender-affirming services executed by a minor is not voidable because of such minority,” reads HB 4876’s official synopsis.
In Illinois, the Department of Family and Child Services is legally required to step in when abuse is suspected—which means children could potentially be removed from their parents’ custody under restrictions placed by the new bill. Parents could also be jailed for up to 15 years for refusing to seek abortions and gender reassignment treatment for their children.
The Parents Matter Coalition is among those speaking up in opposition. The group has toured the state over the past few weeks, proposing that an advisory question be added to November’s general election ballot. The question states: “Shall the written consent from a minor’s parent or guardian be required before any entity, person, clinic or school can provide a minor (under the age of 18 years) any non-emergency medical procedure, medication, pharmaceutical, or any gender modification procedure, gender identification counseling or gender therapy?”
While the results of the referendum wouldn’t be legally binding, it would give state lawmakers the ability to hear from deeply concerned parents.
“They haven’t been in the world long enough to understand the implications of a decision that they make today,” Parents Matter founder Vince Heaton said of those under 18 years old. “Every decision has a consequence. As parents, we want those decisions to be good and those consequences to be positive. So, that’s really what this is about.”
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Ken Ham, Founder and CEO of Answers In Genesis, recently pushed back against the idea that not “affirming” sinful lifestyles to children is tantamount to “child abuse.”
“As Christians, we believe that no parent should abuse their children—they are a gift from God, made in his image, and are to be treated with love, kindness, gentleness, and respect,” Ham highlighted. “But who defines ‘abuse’? Is telling your son that Godcreated him as a boy and that he cannot become a girl (a truth from both God’s Word and biology—you can’t change your genetics even if you can modify your external appearance!) abuse’?”
“Stating the truth is not abuse—it’s kindness!” he underscored. “Is it our duty as parents to affirm our children in whatever they believe about themselves? No! Our duty as parents—as given by God—is to guide, nurture, teach, and protect them, and that may even include protecting them from themselves and the lies they’ve believed! After all, they have sinful hearts, and they can’t trust their feelings. Their behavior and feelings must be judged against God’s Word.”
“The attack on parental rights is only going to continue heating up as our enemy tries to separate children from the very people God designed to keep children safe,” Ham stressed. “We must continue to do all we can to fight for parental rights and the protection of children, because those precious children are worth it.”
