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California laws fundamentally redefine the family

"This legislation redefines normal features of the human reproductive process as medical problems". Credit: Getty

June 12, 2023 - 1:00pm

California has taken two further steps forward in the push to institutionalise the primacy of human desire over human flesh and human relationships. 

California bill SB 729, passed in the Senate last month, redefines “infertility” not as a medical condition but a status that can be caused by an individual’s situation as much as by medical issues. Meanwhile another bill, AB 957, passed in May, has amended the state’s standard for what constitutes parental responsibility for child welfare. To be deemed fit for providing for “the health, safety, and welfare of the child,” in a court of law, parents must not merely “consider” but “affirm” a child’s chosen gender identity. 

What’s being institutionalised in both instances here is the primacy of desire over aspects of human physiology or relationships that have hitherto been treated as given and “natural”: the reproductive process, the normal development pathway of puberty, and the authority of parents over their children. 

In the case of SB 729, an individual or couple (or some other constellation) that desires a baby but doesn’t have male and female gametes and a woman to do the gestating is now defined as “infertile”, on a par with a heterosexual couple that would normally expect to be able to have a baby but for some medical reason cannot conceive. In turn, this legislation requires insurance companies to fund “infertility” treatments for individuals or couples that would never be able to conceive naturally, potentially including gestational surrogates.

Effectively, this legislation redefines normal features of the human reproductive process as medical problems in need of solution, should those normal features conflict with the desires of would-be lone parents or same-sex couples. It then provides for a whole new infrastructure of expensive medical technology and “gestational services” to “cure” biological impossibilities that have been redefined as mere obstacles.

In the case of AB 957, where parents are in a custody battle over a child and part of that custody battle concerns whether the child should be treated as “transgender”, California will presume the parent who resists transitioning their child to be failing in their parental duty of care. Here, the presumptive primacy of desire over organismic givens is asserted on several fronts. 

First, puberty is presumed to have already been redefined from a normal process to an expressive option. That is: puberty, once considered simply “natural”, is now understood as an option that may or may not “align” with the desires of a child. And that child, far from being understood as developmentally immature and in need of forming, is reimagined as already capable of expressing those desires consistently and coherently, and of consenting to the extreme medical interventions necessary to remodel “the wrong puberty” in accordance with these desires. 

Then, as well as entrenching this right to “cure” the normal human maturational process, premised on the assertion of a pre-existing and consistently felt “gender identity”, the legislation inverts the previous understanding of the relation between parents and children. Instead of taking for granted the parent’s loving authority to pursue their child’s best interests, over the (presumed immature) child’s desires if necessary, parental responsibility is now treated as conditional on adult willingness to obey the child’s desires. 

We should not underestimate how radical a transformation this emerging paradigm represents, nor how fundamental the political divisions it occasions already are. Expect this to get worse: the well-documented “Big Sort, in which Americans are increasingly relocating along political fault lines, implies that the gulf between US states on the proper relation between desire, nature, biotech, and politics grows starker over time. And as it’s generally the case that when America sneezes the rest of the world catches a cold, we can be sure the 51st State will become increasingly embroiled. 


Mary Harrington is a contributing editor at UnHerd.

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D Walsh
D Walsh
1 year ago

California, the land of fruits and nuts

Graeme Kemp
Graeme Kemp
1 year ago
Reply to  D Walsh

At least fruit and nuts are actually healthy ! This isn’t !

Graeme Kemp
Graeme Kemp
1 year ago
Reply to  D Walsh

At least fruit and nuts are actually healthy ! This isn’t !

D Walsh
D Walsh
1 year ago

California, the land of fruits and nuts

polidori redux
polidori redux
1 year ago

There is nothing that you can do about it at present. Just bear in mind that these people have no sense of proportion and will overreach themselves. They have to doubledown just to keep the show on the road.There will be a backlash, but not until enough people are seriously detrimentally affected by these antics. The longer a backlash is delayed the more extreme it is. The same will happen with Net Zero – We can already see the wheels falling off that fantasy.
You are right of course that what happens in The US always comes here sometime later. It would be nice if we were first for a change and gave the Yanks something to worry about.

Last edited 1 year ago by polidori redux
Alan B
Alan B
1 year ago
Reply to  polidori redux

In regard to your final sentence, consult Thomas Jefferson!

polidori redux
polidori redux
1 year ago
Reply to  Alan B

As I am English you will have to forgive me for not being overly familiar with the thoughts of Jefferson.

polidori redux
polidori redux
1 year ago
Reply to  Alan B

As I am English you will have to forgive me for not being overly familiar with the thoughts of Jefferson.

Brian Villanueva
Brian Villanueva
1 year ago
Reply to  polidori redux

I’m 50 and I’ve been waiting for the overreach for a very long time.

polidori redux
polidori redux
1 year ago

Have patience

polidori redux
polidori redux
1 year ago

Have patience

Alan B
Alan B
1 year ago
Reply to  polidori redux

In regard to your final sentence, consult Thomas Jefferson!

Brian Villanueva
Brian Villanueva
1 year ago
Reply to  polidori redux

I’m 50 and I’ve been waiting for the overreach for a very long time.

polidori redux
polidori redux
1 year ago

There is nothing that you can do about it at present. Just bear in mind that these people have no sense of proportion and will overreach themselves. They have to doubledown just to keep the show on the road.There will be a backlash, but not until enough people are seriously detrimentally affected by these antics. The longer a backlash is delayed the more extreme it is. The same will happen with Net Zero – We can already see the wheels falling off that fantasy.
You are right of course that what happens in The US always comes here sometime later. It would be nice if we were first for a change and gave the Yanks something to worry about.

Last edited 1 year ago by polidori redux
Jim Veenbaas
Jim Veenbaas
1 year ago

You know society has reached a breaking point when the ruling elite sacrifice children in favour of some political objective or ideology. We saw if everywhere with Covid policy, and now we’re seeing it in places that allow children to undergo life altering medical interventions that they cannot possibly understand..

Jim Veenbaas
Jim Veenbaas
1 year ago

You know society has reached a breaking point when the ruling elite sacrifice children in favour of some political objective or ideology. We saw if everywhere with Covid policy, and now we’re seeing it in places that allow children to undergo life altering medical interventions that they cannot possibly understand..

Anthony L
Anthony L
1 year ago

California stopped being a place to live the traditional American dream a long time ago. You’ve got a better chance of your child turning into a well-adjusted adult if you let them be raised by wolves rather than the people and institutions of California.

Gregory Toews
Gregory Toews
1 year ago
Reply to  Anthony L

Precisely. Wolves don’t have an “authentic self” that exists above the material universe.

Gregory Toews
Gregory Toews
1 year ago
Reply to  Anthony L

Precisely. Wolves don’t have an “authentic self” that exists above the material universe.

Anthony L
Anthony L
1 year ago

California stopped being a place to live the traditional American dream a long time ago. You’ve got a better chance of your child turning into a well-adjusted adult if you let them be raised by wolves rather than the people and institutions of California.

Erik Hildinger
Erik Hildinger
1 year ago

There used to be (and perhaps still is) a section in legal encyclopedias entitled “children and other incompetents.” This section leads the lawyer to statutes and cases dealing with those incompetent under the law– those who do not have the legal capacity to make contracts, for instance. It’s evident that politicians should be included among these incompetents.

Erik Hildinger
Erik Hildinger
1 year ago

There used to be (and perhaps still is) a section in legal encyclopedias entitled “children and other incompetents.” This section leads the lawyer to statutes and cases dealing with those incompetent under the law– those who do not have the legal capacity to make contracts, for instance. It’s evident that politicians should be included among these incompetents.

Jim Veenbaas
Jim Veenbaas
1 year ago

In Canada, the provincial govt of New Brunswick plans to revise a policy that allows schools to call students by their preferred gender pronouns without informing parents. The new law would require schools to inform parents if any student under the age of 16 requests a pronoun change.

The howls of outrage are deafening. All the predictable groups are making charges of transphobia and blah blah blah. Trudeau, of course, is strongly opposed to the policy and has accused the New Brunswick premier of all sorts of right wing racism.

What disappoints me the most, and truly makes me fear for the future of my country, is not one leader of the three national political parties has explicitly endorsed the policy, including the so-called populist leader of the Conservative Party Pierre Poilievre.

Not one mainstream legacy media outlet has endorsed the policy either, including the only centre right newspaper in the country.

It’s not even a question of gender policy. The state has no business overriding the rights of parents or intervening in a child’s behaviour without consent of the parents. I haven’t heard anyone make this argument, other than Premier Higgins.

He has threatened to call a snap election over the Issue. I hope he follows through and forces an open and honest debate.

Coralie Palmer
Coralie Palmer
1 year ago
Reply to  Jim Veenbaas

That’s truly depressing. Canada of all places. To paraphrase John Stuart Mill, all that is necessary for evil to triumph is for good people be utterly spineless.

JP Martin
JP Martin
1 year ago
Reply to  Jim Veenbaas

Canada has lost the plot. In 2017, a court in British Columbia ordered a birth certificate be amended to show the names of all three “parents” living in a polyamorous arrangement.

Coralie Palmer
Coralie Palmer
1 year ago
Reply to  Jim Veenbaas

That’s truly depressing. Canada of all places. To paraphrase John Stuart Mill, all that is necessary for evil to triumph is for good people be utterly spineless.

JP Martin
JP Martin
1 year ago
Reply to  Jim Veenbaas

Canada has lost the plot. In 2017, a court in British Columbia ordered a birth certificate be amended to show the names of all three “parents” living in a polyamorous arrangement.

Jim Veenbaas
Jim Veenbaas
1 year ago

In Canada, the provincial govt of New Brunswick plans to revise a policy that allows schools to call students by their preferred gender pronouns without informing parents. The new law would require schools to inform parents if any student under the age of 16 requests a pronoun change.

The howls of outrage are deafening. All the predictable groups are making charges of transphobia and blah blah blah. Trudeau, of course, is strongly opposed to the policy and has accused the New Brunswick premier of all sorts of right wing racism.

What disappoints me the most, and truly makes me fear for the future of my country, is not one leader of the three national political parties has explicitly endorsed the policy, including the so-called populist leader of the Conservative Party Pierre Poilievre.

Not one mainstream legacy media outlet has endorsed the policy either, including the only centre right newspaper in the country.

It’s not even a question of gender policy. The state has no business overriding the rights of parents or intervening in a child’s behaviour without consent of the parents. I haven’t heard anyone make this argument, other than Premier Higgins.

He has threatened to call a snap election over the Issue. I hope he follows through and forces an open and honest debate.

Andy O'Gorman
Andy O'Gorman
1 year ago

Nuts. I am now totally convinced that the Californians leftest are certifiably insane.
Where are these supposed moderate and ‘sane’ independent Californians and why more importantly, they are not readying themselves to rid the place of these despicable creatures.
America is lost.

Andy O'Gorman
Andy O'Gorman
1 year ago

Nuts. I am now totally convinced that the Californians leftest are certifiably insane.
Where are these supposed moderate and ‘sane’ independent Californians and why more importantly, they are not readying themselves to rid the place of these despicable creatures.
America is lost.

Martin Terrell
Martin Terrell
1 year ago

This is scarily dystopian, a setting for the new Handperson’s Tale. Any normal parent with kids will have to get out, further polarizing the country, although at least there are other states to flee to, where they speak the same language.

Martin Terrell
Martin Terrell
1 year ago

This is scarily dystopian, a setting for the new Handperson’s Tale. Any normal parent with kids will have to get out, further polarizing the country, although at least there are other states to flee to, where they speak the same language.

John Murray
John Murray
1 year ago

Lex Luthor’s plan from the first Superman movie suddenly sounding quite reasonable.

John Murray
John Murray
1 year ago

Lex Luthor’s plan from the first Superman movie suddenly sounding quite reasonable.

Albert McGloan
Albert McGloan
1 year ago

America is the Great Satan.

D Walsh
D Walsh
1 year ago
Reply to  Albert McGloan

it is, you only need to see it once

Robert Hochbaum
Robert Hochbaum
1 year ago
Reply to  Albert McGloan

Ha! Sorry, guys! Most of us aren’t very happy either!

D Walsh
D Walsh
1 year ago
Reply to  Albert McGloan

it is, you only need to see it once

Robert Hochbaum
Robert Hochbaum
1 year ago
Reply to  Albert McGloan

Ha! Sorry, guys! Most of us aren’t very happy either!

Albert McGloan
Albert McGloan
1 year ago

America is the Great Satan.

Daniel P
Daniel P
1 year ago

God help us.

Daniel P
Daniel P
1 year ago

God help us.

Paula G
Paula G
1 year ago

Look, we are bad news. And it will get worse now Gavin Newsom wants to be president in the next one or two elections.

Isnt the world sick of American (cultural) imperialism? I was told it was. Why do you lot follow our ideas? Stop reading our papers and giving us the time of day. Lose Canada at the same time.

Last edited 1 year ago by Paula G
Paula G
Paula G
1 year ago

Look, we are bad news. And it will get worse now Gavin Newsom wants to be president in the next one or two elections.

Isnt the world sick of American (cultural) imperialism? I was told it was. Why do you lot follow our ideas? Stop reading our papers and giving us the time of day. Lose Canada at the same time.

Last edited 1 year ago by Paula G
Samuel Ross
Samuel Ross
1 year ago

Californians are cracked.