DOVER, DE – On Thursday, June 15, 2023, Senate Republican Leader Gerald Hocker (R-Ocean View) and Senate Republican Whip Brian Pettyjohn (R-Georgetown) issued the below statement concerning newly-released House Bill 230.
“This afternoon, members of the House and Senate Democratic caucuses introduced House Bill 230 (HB 230). It would, in essence, change the policy of the state so that parental concerns about their children receiving irreversible gender-affirming care could be disregarded under Delaware law.”
“Additionally, this bill grants the Family Court power to resolve custody problems while a child is in the State receiving gender-affirming medical care and the provision of such care is in contention in the custody dispute. Furthermore, it forbids the state from implementing an out-of-state court order that takes a kid away from a parent because the parent consents to the child receiving gender-affirming medical care.
“Children are rarely held criminally liable because they are still developing mentally, emotionally, and cognitively. They do not have the same level of judgment or grasp of their consequences as adults. So, why would we permit a child to undergo irreversible changes to his or her body when their minds and bodies have yet to mature?
“This is possibly the most blatant erosion of parental rights in the history of our state. We will not stand for this type of legislation becoming law and neither should Delawareans.”
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