ABC News accused of 'misinformation' for claiming kids won't be taken from parents under Walz-passed law
An exchange debating whether a Minnesota law allows the state to take trans-identified children away from parents who refuse to provide them with hormonal or surgical gender interventions is reigniting a conversation about media bias, with one advocacy group accusing ABC News of engaging in "misinformation."
Republican vice presidential nominee Sen. J.D. Vance of Ohio appeared on ABC's "This Week" Sunday for an interview with ABC News' Jonathan Karl.
The conversation concluded with Karl pressing Vance about comments former president and Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump made at a rally in Montana over the weekend asserting that Democratic vice presidential nominee and Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz signed a law "letting the state kidnap children" if their parents do not provide them with gender transition interventions.
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"What he said was not true," Karl insisted.
Vance pushed back, declaring, "Tim Walz has supported taking children from their parents if the parents don't consent to gender reassignment."
After Vance described the legislation as "crazy," Karl continued to reject the characterization of the bill.
"He did not sign a law allowing the state to kidnap children," Karl stated.
As Vance maintained, "You should not be able to take people's children away from them." Karl declared, "That's not what he's proposing." Vance replied, "He has proposed that."
"What I just described to you, I would describe as kidnapping," Vance declared. "You should not be able to take people's children away from them if you disagree with decisions about gender reassignment. Yes, he has proposed that, Jon."
The bill discussed by the two is House File 146, which Walz signed into law last year after the Democratic-controlled House of Representatives passed the measure in a 68-62 vote and the Democratic-controlled Minnesota Senate approved it in a 34-30 vote. The vote fell primarily along party lines, with Democrats supporting it and Republicans opposing it. One House Democrat joined Republicans in voting against the legislation.
HF 146 states that "A court of this state has temporary emergency jurisdiction if the child is present in this state" and "the child has been unable to obtain gender-affirming health care."
The bill defines "gender-affirming health care" as "medically necessary health care or mental health care that respects the gender identity of the patient," including "interventions to suppress the development of endogenous secondary sex characteristics" and "interventions to align the patient's appearance or physical body with the patient's gender identity."
The socially conservative advocacy organization American Principles Project elaborated on the implications of the bill, warning that "an adult bringing a child to the state to receive transgender drugs or surgeries could petition the court in Minnesota, rather than in the child's home state, for custody of the child and potentially be granted custody."
According to the American Principles Project, "The law also prohibits state agencies from cooperating with a custody order from another state if the order would remove the child from a parent or guardian, allowing him or her to receive transgender drugs or surgeries. This could, in practice, prevent a child from being reunited with his or her parents if those parents oppose him or her receiving these drugs and/or surgeries."
In a statement, American Principles Project President Terry Schilling cited Karl's assertions about HF 146 during his interview with Vance as an example of media bias in favor of Democrats.
"For years, public confidence in the legacy media has been declining, and it's no secret why. Press outlets have become increasingly blatant in their propagandizing for Democrats, efforts which have come to include outright lying on behalf of candidates like [Democrat presidential nominee] Kamala Harris and Tim Walz."
"This Sunday's whopper by ABC News's Jonathan Karl is just the latest example," Schilling said. "If the legacy media desire to win back the trust of Americans, they should apologize for their past propagation of misinformation as in this episode and instead commit themselves to covering the news in a non-partisan manner. Otherwise, all they will accomplish in their continued attempts to gaslight the public will be the complete destruction of their remaining credibility."
The provision of gender transition procedures and drugs like puberty blockers and cross-sex hormones for minors has become a contentious topic in light of concerns about the long-term effects of such interventions.
The American College of Pediatricians has warned that puberty blockers, referred to in HF 146 as "interventions to suppress the development of endogenous secondary sex characteristics," can cause "osteoporosis, mood disorders, seizures, cognitive impairment, and, when combined with cross-sex hormones, sterility."
The ACP lists possible side effects as "an increased risk of heart attacks, stroke, diabetes, blood clots and cancers across their lifespan." The most controversial gender transition procedures offered to children in some cases involves the removal of healthy body parts and/or the creation of artificial body parts that align with a child's stated gender identity.
Chloe Cole, a detransitioner who once identified as a member of the opposite sex but has seen her gender dysphoria subside, has filed a lawsuit alleging that the double mastectomy she received as a minor left her with suicidal thoughts. She lamented that her experience left her with "deep physical and emotional wounds, severe regrets, and distrust of the medical system."
Twenty-six states, including Alabama, Arizona, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Idaho, Indiana, Iowa, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, New Hampshire, North Carolina, North Dakota, Ohio, Oklahoma, South Carolina, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, West Virginia, and Wyoming, have banned some or all gender interventions for minors.
Meanwhile, Minnesota has taken the opposite approach on the issue. HF 146 also forbids cooperation with investigations of parents who travel to Minnesota from a state where the procedures are banned.
States that have enacted similar legislation to HF 146 are California, Colorado, Connecticut, Illinois, Maine, Maryland, New Mexico, New York, Oregon, Rhode Island, Vermont and Washington.
Ryan Foley is a reporter for The Christian Post. He can be reached at: [email protected]
