'His policies have done nothing but hurt kids'
Moms across the country say Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz is the most anti-parent running mate Vice President Kamala Harris could have chosen.
“The worst part is that Walz claims to care about kids, but his policies have done nothing but hurt kids,” Rochester, Minnesota, mother of three Jeannine Buntrock told The Daily Signal. “Walz is a loyal soldier for the progressive movement, and will advance that cause, no matter the cost to Minnesotan families and children.”
Walz has demonstrated “absolutely no respect for parents,” according to Moms for Liberty co-founder and mom of four Tiffany Justice.
Walz signed a “transgender trafficking” law in May 2023, which allows kids to travel to Minnesota and receive medical interventions without parental knowledge or consent.
Erin Lee, a Colorado mom of three whose daughter’s art teacher attempted to help her transition behind her parents’ backs, said she has serious concerns about Walz’ track record on gender ideology.
“As a parent who had the state intervene in my family, I know the pain that it causes families when these laws impact their lives,” Lee told The Daily Signal. “It’s very real.”
Laws in other states, which allow the termination of a parent’s custody for giving their child transgender medical interventions, will not be upheld in Minnesota due to the bill Walz signed into law.
The bill describes “gender-affirming care” as “medically necessary.”
But research has found that so-called gender-affirming care increases the likelihood that youth will attempt suicide. According to a study released in April, “Gender-affirming surgery is significantly associated with elevated suicide-attempt risks, underlining the necessity for comprehensive post-procedure psychiatric support.”
The law cites sex-hormone suppression drugs and irreversible transgender surgeries as examples of “gender-affirming care.” Moms for Liberty leader Justice said these medical interventions shouldn’t be described as “care.”
“It isn’t medical care,” she said. “It’s not what’s in the best interest of the child.”
Walz welcomed an openly anti-parent fifth-grade teacher from Florida, Jenna Barbee, to teach in Minnesota last May. The “rights as a parent, those rights are gone when your child is in the public school system,” Barbee said in an interview with CNN.
Justice said the idea of driving a wedge between parents and children is unacceptable.
“They think the government knows better than parents do for their children, so every American parent should be concerned about Tim Walz being vice president of the United States if they want to protect their parental rights,” she said.
Walz issued an executive order on March 8, 2023, ensuring that Minnesota children can obtain irreversible transgender surgeries and sterilizing hormone treatments. The measures made Minnesota a “trans refuge” state, supporters said.
While signing the order, Walz held the hand of a 12-year-old boy who said he identified as a transgender girl.
A parent in another state may not take custody action against a co-parent in Minnesota who is transitioning a child. Walz’s executive order prevents other states from taking “child protection” action against parents who help their children “transition” to a boy or girl.
The selection of Walz confirms that Democrats believe the state, not parents, are responsible for the upbringing of children, Fairfax County, Virginia, mom Stephanie Lundquist-Arora told The Daily Signal.
“Walz felt this so strongly that he inserted himself in cases where parents had disputes about whether or not their children should have irreversible gender-transitioning surgeries, of course ruling by executive order in favor of the mutilation of children,” Lundquist-Arora said.
Due to Walz’s executive order, state agencies do not allow a person in another state to limit a Minnesota parent’s contact with their child “because the parent/guardian sought to obtain or did obtain gender-affirming health care services for their child.” For example, a dad in Iowa could not take action against his ex-wife in Minnesota for attempting to make their 5-year-old child transgender.
Colorado mom Lee has talked to divorced parents in such situations, she said.
“I’ve talked to parents in almost all 50 states who have been affected by gender ideology, whose children have been taught to keep secrets, have been groomed, have been indoctrinated. have been caught up in these divorce situations, where they’re being medicalized against the will of one of their parents,” Lee said. “It’s already happening everywhere, whether or not these really extreme laws are in place. This ideology is affecting people everywhere.”
“I absolutely fear that it could spread as a result of someone leading our country who is so adamantly pushing these ideologies on children,” Lee added.
Parents have also criticized Walz’s response to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Minnesota Parents Alliance Executive Director Christine Trooien, a mother of three, told The Daily Signal:
Everything from Walz’s response to COVID, to George Floyd, to ‘book bans’ has been in lockstep with union agendas and talking points rather than the needs and values of everyday Minnesotans, which includes teachers.
Only half of Minnesota students were proficient in reading in 2023, with 45.5% of students meeting math standards, according to Minnesota Department of Education data. Scores in math, reading, and science are each down about 10 percentage points compared with before the COVID-19 pandemic.
Schools were closed intermittently throughout 2020-2021 and into the 2021-2022 school year. Many students were subjected to intermittent “distance learning” for two full years.
In the 2020-2021 school year, only 4% of students were in districts that offered high levels of in-person instruction, according to an American Experiment report.
Because of Walz, Minnesota is a shell of what it used to be, said Minnesota mom Buntrock. She referred to Walz signing bills installing feminine hygiene products in boys’ bathrooms and enshrining abortion up until birth in state statutes.
“There are now tampons in boys’ bathrooms. There are different codes of conduct and consequences for students, according to the color of their skin or other identity characteristics, and trafficked minors are brought to our state for abortions,” Buntrock said. “With different parental-notification laws, those trafficked girls could be saved.”
Instead of serving Minnesotans, Walz has acted in accordance with the will of teachers unions, Trooien said.
“Walz has been presented time and again with opportunities to unite and lead Minnesota out of the chaos of 2020, but instead, continues to follow a very narrow and divisive set of policy directives set by state and national teachers unions,” Trooien said. “As a result, K-12 test scores are at all-time lows, crime, violence, and taxes are at all-time highs, and families are fleeing Minnesota in record numbers.”
Parents Defending Education senior adviser and Virginia mother Michele Exner said Walz’s education record has created setbacks for Minnesota families and students.
“Since he has been in office, national testing scores have steadily declined, and the state’s education system ranking has taken a nosedive since 2018,” Exner said. “His radical progressive policies have prioritized menstrual products in boys’ bathrooms over tackling the education losses his own policies created.”
Parents should never be excluded from decision-making in their children’s lives, Justice said.
“Parents have the fundamental right to direct the education of their children, but not in Minnesota,” according to Justice. “Parents have the fundamental right to direct the medical care of their children, but not in Minnesota.”
Mary Margaret Olohan contributed to this report.
[Editor’s note: This story originally was published by The Daily Signal.]
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