(The Center Square) – As the Washington State House passed House Bill 1296, which critics say undermine parental rights within the K-12 system, emails sent last month to Sen. Jamie Pedersen, D-Seattle, conveyed outrage over remarks he made regarding parental rights, with Pedersen insisting those remarks were taken out of context.
During a Feb. 5 interview with Fox News, Pedersen said “kids over 13 have the complete right to make their own decisions about their mental health care. Parents don’t have a right to have notice, they don’t have a right to have consent about that.”
Pedersen’s remarks were made within the context of a discussion regarding Senate Bill 5181, which opponents argue would effectively undermine a parents’ bill of rights adopted by lawmakers during the 2024 session after Initiative 2081 garnered enough signatures to be ratified and sent to the Legislature.
The comments quickly received pushback on social media and gained nationwide attention. Among those forms of protest were emails obtained by The Center Square through a public records request. It is not known yet how many emails were sent to Pedersen in response, as the records request is still active.
“I am very disgusted with your push to give minors complete say in their physical and mental health care in this state,” one emailer wrote. “Democrats are completely out of control, and I would lump a strong percentage of Washington Republican into this group as well.”
Another emailer wrote that “I hope you realize just who OUR CHILDREN belong to, not you. These type of power moves by the state are illegal and disturbing. Only a child groomer thinks that way. If you and your ilk are what we elected to run our state then I think we had all better remove our children from state run schools to keep them safe from you.”
In response to another email critical of his statements, Pedersen defended himself by saying he was not expressing his personal feelings on the matter, but articulating existing state law.
“All of those policies have been decided by the legislature or voters through the democratic process,” he wrote. “They can all be changed through the democratic process. But our constitution requires transparency when changes are made to existing law. Brian Heywood cannot just decide to run an initiative that changes the health care rights of young people without actually amending those statutes.”
The state law, RCW 71.34.530, allows adolescents 13 and older to seek outpatient mental health treatment without parental consent. However, critics of Pedersen say that since 1985 when the law was first passed, the definition of mental health treatment has been altered significantly.
“I just want you to know consider yourself VERY LUCKY you live where you live,” one emailer wrote. “Your words would not go well here.”
Another emailer wrote the existence of the state law “is not a good enough reason” for Pedersen to make such comments. “I don’t think you understand the harm you are causing young people.”
One emailer wrote, “I wanted to thank you for your comments about children older than thirteen being able to make decisions about their mental health and medical needs. That statement invalidates any argument about eighteen-year-olds being too young to purchase firearms in WA, making that law much easier to overturn.”
SB 5181 has been referred to the House Education Committee, but is not scheduled for a public hearing. HB 1296 passed the state House on Thursday morning in a 56-37 vote after hours of debate over scores of proposed amendments.
