By Illinois Review
On Wednesday, word began circulating that legislation recently introduced in Springfield that made it a crime for parents to deny a minor child’s access to gender transition and abortion services – calling it “child abuse,” was not advancing in the Illinois House of Representatives – handing parental rights advocates a major legislative victory.
In a letter to a constituent, Diane Goldring, chief of staff to Illinois State Rep. Robyn Gabel, the Democrat House Majority Leader wrote that, “The bill’s sponsor is not advancing HB4876 out of the Rules Committee. It will not get a hearing in the full house thus will not pass.”
Illinois State Rep. Anne Stava-Murray (D-Naperville) introduced the legislation on February 6, 2024, and it sparked immediate and widespread condemnation from parents rights advocates across the state.
In a Facebook post that has received over 860 comments, Rep. Stava-Murray attempted to justify her actions by citing transgender youth suicide statistics in an attempt to garner more support for her legislation by politicizing a serious mental health issue, writing,
“It is important to know– and quite alarming, that research finds that transgender youth are at greatest risk of suicide (compared to their non-transgender peers) as a result of rejection, bullying, and other victimization.
In other words, for some transgender youth, family support can be the difference between life and death. Parents and caregivers can find resources, peer support, and professional guidance to help along the journey, and to ensure that your child cannot just survive, but thrive.”
In the legislation, Stava-Murray defines an “abused child” as anyone “whose parent or immediate family member, or any person responsible for the child’s welfare, or any individual residing in the same home as the child, or a paramour of the child’s parent denies the child access to necessary medical care, including, but not limited to, primary care services, abortion services, or gender-affirming services.”
Awake Illinois founder and parents rights advocate Shannon Adcock led a statewide grassroots effort to oppose the legislation, and legislative offices were bombarded with phone calls and messages from angry parents within hours of the bill being introduced. Adcock also went on a media tour, giving interviews to as many media outlets as possible to sound the alarms.
Late Wednesday, Awake Illinois posted a message on X, writing,
“In 2021, we regular citizens said “WTH is this bullshit? We gotta do something!”
And we found friends.
For 3 years, we’ve been uncancellable.
We are now proud to announce—#hb4876 is dead!
Great work, Illinois!
Advocacy works!
Onward to totally defeat gender ideology.”
At least 18 states, including Indiana, Iowa, Missouri, Arkansas, Mississippi and Nebraska have passed laws restricting transgender health care for minors, and an additional 14 other states are considering similar legislation.
An estimated 20 states, including Illinois, California, Colorado, New York and Pennsylvania have put measures in place that both protect and expand transgender health care services, including for minors.
